The U.S. Senate is supposed to be spending 10 hours today debating the budget cuts reconciliation bill. But a substantial portion of the debate has been spent sparring over the reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act and the inclusion of ANWR in the Defense Appropriations bill. While these are certainly very important debates to be had, it's hard to understand why the debate is not about the budget cuts. Do Senators not have anything to say about the cuts? Do they think the changes they will vote for shortly are unimportant? Are Senators ashamed of what they are proposing in this bill?

Below is a list of cuts in the budget reconciliation bill currently being debated on the Senate floor:

• Medicaid: Low-income families will have to pay more than they can afford for medical care under Medicaid and face shrinking benefits.
• SSI: People with disabilities will have to wait as long as a year to receive the back SSI benefits they are owed because the government has taken so long to approve their application.

The House-approved budget bill -- which the Senate will soon vote on -- contains a measure raising federal pension insurance premiums that employers pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) single-employer insurance program. If the Senate passes this bill, the rates will increase from $19 to $30 per participant, starting in 2006. These rates have not increased since 1991. Managers of mulit-employer pension plans will also see rates rise from $2.60 to $8.00 per participant. These rates have not increased since 1988.

The House passed the budget reconciliation bill early this morning (around 6:00 am) by a vote of 212 - 206. Nine Republicans opposed the bill along with all Democrats who voted. There were 10 Republicans and 6 Democrats who did not vote. In addition, there were 6 Republicans who opposed the House version of the cuts in this bill in November but supported the amended cuts this time.