BBA: Speaker Boehner & GOP Push Trojan Horse to End Medicare

Americans didn't get fooled the first time Republicans passed their budget to end Medicare and they sure won't be snookered by the latest plan by the Republicans to abolish Medicare--it's nothing more than a Trojan Horse for their reckless budget.

Last night on FOX, Speaker Boehner reiterated the GOP's commitment to ending Medicare saying a so-called 'balanced budget amendment' (or BBA) should be part of any debt ceiling negotiations with the White House.

Ranking Member on the Budget Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, explains what the BBA would do:

The balanced budget constitutional amendment (H. J. Res. 1) recently approved by the Judiciary Committee is a masquerade designed to foster the policy choices of the Republican budget: to end the Medicare guarantee for seniors and slash vital services while providing tax breaks for the wealthy. This balanced budget amendment would have dire consequences on the economy, on Medicare and other government guarantees to our citizens, and on Congress's ability to respond to changing needs.

Read the full report on the amendment from the Budget Committee»

Today, a large group of national organizations representing millions of Americans released a letter in strong opposition explaining:

In short, this amendment is a recipe for making recessions more frequent, longer, and deeper, while requiring severe cuts that would harshly affect seniors, children, veterans, people with disabilities, homeland security activities, public safety, environmental protection, education and medical research. It would almost certainly necessitate massive cuts to vital programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' benefits and other programs, and, as noted, lead to even deeper cuts than the House-passed budget.

Read the full letter»

Risking the economy, jobs and the future of the middle class and seniors in order to push an ideological agenda Americanshaverejected is wrong.