Anticipating the possibility than an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff might not adequately reduce the nation’s long-term deficits, Senator Bob Corker, R-Tn., on Wednesday introduced legislation to raise the debt ceiling by roughly $1 trillion in exchange for roughly $1 trillion in reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Senator Corker said, “I continue to hope Speaker Boehner and President Obama will negotiate a deal north of $4 trillion before year-end, but I think we should also prepare now for the possibility that they do not. The next opportunity we have to make the structural, transformative reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that will save these programs and put our country on a path to fiscal solvency is the debt ceiling debate. I’ve introduced dollar-for-dollar legislation that will raise the debt ceiling by roughly $1 trillion in exchange for roughly $1 trillion in reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This bill incorporates many of the recommendations made in the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles and Domenici-Rivlin proposals. This bill meets our obligations to older and younger Americans. Young Americans expect us to solve our fiscal issues so they aren’t saddled with debt and robbed of their opportunity for the American dream. And seniors expect us to honor the commitments we have made to them.”
The proposed savings in Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid were also included in a fiscal reform proposal offered by Senator Corker last month that would lead to $4.5 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.