Raucous town halls this month appear to have persuaded House Republican leaders to back away from their plan to replace Medicare with a voucher program. Now the fall-back for fiscal hawks appears to be mandatory spending caps that will slash both Medicare and Social Security.Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says this latest plan is just like putting lipstick on a pig?it?s still a pig. Forcing massive cuts to programs vital to millions of Americans still suffering in this economy, while ignoring billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest among us is not fiscal responsibility. Mandatory spending caps simply allow Congress to implement the same devastating cuts?this time from a distance. In this short video, Reich describes in simple terms what the Corker/McCaskill spending cap legislation means to the average American:
The National Committee opposes putting our federal budget on autopilot. We?ve launched Phase Three of our million dollar ad campaign against cutting Social Security and Medicare to pay down our debt. This radio ad, currently running in Washington, D.C., warns Congress the American people do not support cutting Medicare and Social Security.And as our Executive Vice President and acting CEO, Max Richtman, told USA Today:Rather than tackling the root causes of our federal debt, spending caps put our budgeting on autopilot, allowing Washington to claim credit for ?being tough? now and watching from a distance later when across-the-board-cuts slash seniors programs, veterans programs and more. Setting spending levels to match yesteryears? averages ignores today?s reality: huge increases in the cost of healthcare, the creation of the Part D drug benefit, increased homeland security spending in the post 9-11 era, multiple unfunded wars, an aging America and historically low tax levels. Pretending today?s America is yesterday?s America is risky business. If cutting trillions of dollars from vital programs serving millions of middle-class Americans while maintaining tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest among us is Congress? plan for our future, then our Senators and Representatives should come to the American people and make that case. Budget caps are nothing more than a Medicare Kill Switch that fiscal hawks are itching to flip.