The Super Secret Committee
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 10:14PM
The 12-member congressional Super Committee has until Thanksgiving to come up with another $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts. Since it deliberates behind closed doors, no one really knows whether it is making progress or spinning its wheels.
So the best you can do is look for clues. One top House GOP lawmaker suggested the $1.2 trillion in savings could come entirely from health care reductions.
Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-MONT, who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that deals with health care spending, said the savings could be achieved with two simple modifications to the federal health care reform law adopted last year. One change would knock out proposed Medicaid expansion; the other would trim subsidies to help people buy health insurance.
At the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported that nearly 50 percent of Americans live in households that receive some form of federal aid. Almost 35 percent are in households receiving food stamps, subsidized housing, cash welfare or Medicaid benefits. Almost 15 percent receive Medicare benefits and nearly 16 percent receive Social Security benefits.
Democrats are apparently rolling out their own bogeymen — subsidies for oil companies — for the chopping block.