House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested Thursday that a House Republican deficit-reduction proposal could lead to the end of Medicare.
“Does [the House GOP bill] create jobs as we reduce the deficit, or is it an ideological document that we will vote on today that will honor the call of some in the Republican Party that Medicare should wither on the vine?” said the California Democrat during his weekly news briefing at the Capitol.
Mrs. Pelosi made similar predictions about Medicare’s potential demise when railing against the House Republican-drafted 2012 budget blueprint and the GOPs “cut, cap and balance” deficit reduction plan — measures that passed the Republican-controlled House but were rejected in the Democratic-run Senate.
The House is scheduled to vote Thursday evening on a bill crafted by House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, that would raise the nation’s $14.29 trillion debt ceiling by $900 billion while cutting even more than that from future spending.
