Entitlement Spending Solutions: Table This
by Dana Chasin, 12/11/2006
Entitlement growth is a
growing problem, budget policymakers in Congress and the Administration agree.
Time to deal with it is of the essence, with the '08 campaign soon likely to make debate on solutions too hot to handle, both sides agree.
"Everything is on the table," incoming Democratic Budget Committee chairmen, Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. and Sen. Kent Conrad say. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman have not ruled anything out.
“My message to Portman and Paulson is: Put something on the table that is near and dear to them to prove their sincerity,” Spratt said last week, according to CQ.
“As the administration, we are in a listening mode,” Portman replied.
Incoming Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus said that a solution can be found “only if [Bush] makes it clear that everything is on the table."
I think I need a new prescription -- I can't see anything on the table.
