Last week, Democrats and Republicans on the debt panel submitted separate deficit-reduction proposals.
Democrats offered a proposal that would reduce the deficit by almost $3 trillion over 10 years through a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases, including $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Republicans presented a $2.2 trillion proposal that would increase Medicare premiums by $200 billion and cut $585 billion from health programs. The proposal would cut $300 billion from Medicare, $185 billion from Medicaid and $100 billion from other health-related programs.
As part of the recent budget agreement, the 12-member panel — also known as the “super committee” — must develop and pass by the end of November $1.5 trillion in federal spending cuts over 10 years. Failure to do so would trigger a series of automatic across-the-board cuts.
On November 1 the panel held a public hearing, which reviewed previous deficit-reduction proposals. Witnesses will include former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alice Rivlin and former Senate Budget Chair Pete Domenici (R-N.M.).
