Any budget plan that does not start with ending the war spending and significantly increasing taxes on the richest should be DOA. In case the political class missed it, a few people around the country are upset with the extreme class warfare waged against the middle and lower classes. Americans can be fair with cuts but there's been nothing fair about the handouts to the rich and cuts for everyone else that we've experienced since the Reagan years.
Will we finally see fairness in Washington or will it be same old, same old?
The Democratic plan proposes cutting the deficit by $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion and calls for between $200 billion and $300 billion in new stimulus spending to boost an ailing U.S. economy. It would be paid for with lower interest payments from reducing deficits.NOTE FROM JOHN: Senate Democrats apparently want to lose next year.
It also seeks around $400 billion in Medicare savings, with half coming in benefit cuts and the other half in cuts to healthcare providers. Details of that proposal were scant but tackling the popular Medicare program is always politically risky for politicians in Washington.
Many Democrats oppose cuts to Medicare, while Republicans have consistently fought tooth-and-nail against any tax hikes. The congressional aides were not immediately able to say how the Democrat plan would achieve the revenue increases.
