GOP Senators Want to Address Entitlements

Budget experts of all political stripes point out that if the government wants to get its debt under control, it will have to reduce spending on entitlements – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And Republican senators hope to do just that, The Hill reports.

A group of them meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Thursday demanded that he agree to substantial cuts in entitlement spending in return for their support to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.

“In the long term, we all know we have over $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities and very popular programs that Americans depend on, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, that are simply on an unsustainable path,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

It does appear that Medicare and Medicaid reforms will be open to negotiation, said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.