>U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Taxes, Medicare
By Heidi Przybyla and Brian Faler – Nov 11, 2010 4:12 AM ET
A plan offered by the leaders of President Barack Obama’s commission to reduce the federal deficit might work. It just won’t happen.
The co-chairmen proposed a $3.8 trillion deficit-cutting plan yesterday that would trim Social Security and Medicare, reduce income-tax rates and eliminate tax breaks including the mortgage-interest deduction. It would reduce the annual deficit from $1.3 trillion this year to about $400 billion by 2015 and start reducing the $13.7 trillion national debt.
“Mathematically it apparently works,” said Stan Collender, a former Democratic House and Senate budget analyst and managing director of Qorvis Communications in Washington. “Politically, it is going to have a lot of trouble getting support from more than just the two co-chairs.”
The plan would raise gas taxes, slash defense spending and farm subsidies and bring down health-care costs by clamping down on medical malpractice suits. The Social Security retirement age would rise to 68 in about 2050 and 69 in about 2075.
