(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), he of the Sen. Ensign “put your pants on” club, has departed in a huff from the latest government attempt to come to a budget agreement on the backs of those who can least afford it. Coburn walked out when Dick Durbin refused to accept Coburn’s demand for $130 billion in Medicare benefit cuts for current beneficiaries on top of the $400 billion in savings already on the table. That half a billion is on top of the cuts already passed in the Obamacare bill. If enacted, these cuts would dismantle Medicare.
From Greg Sargent at the Washington Post:
The “Gang of Six” talks on deficit reduction broke down after Senators Dick Durbin and Tom Coburn got locked in a heated yelling match over Coburn’s demand for extremely deep cuts in Medicare that Durbin thought would “destroy” the popular program, a Senate aide familiar with the talks tells me.
The episode could prove at least somewhat reassuring to liberals who have worried that Durbin is open to a “grand bargain” that would include serious cuts in the popular program, which would undercut Dem efforts to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans on the issue. Durbin has insisted he’s at the “Gang of Six” table mainly to protect liberal priorities.
The episode also is a reminder of how much Republicans will insist on in Dem concessions as conditions for any deal.
Coburn apparently has been bringing up new issues at every meeting, or demanding to reconsider old ones and asking for sharper cuts to Social Security than had been previously agreed to even as the group appeared to be reaching a consensus. On Monday he threw the gauntlet down, like the loyal corporate puppet that he is, and when he couldn’t get his way, took his ball and went home to C Street. I give Durban some small iota of credit for not caving but considering the recommendations that will come from this right wing/blue dog packed “gang”, that is damning praise.
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