Centrists Win Backing on Medicare Cost Cuts
By GREG HITT and NAFTALI BENDAVID
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Democratic centrists said they won a tentative commitment from the White House to back a proposal to curb the growth of Medicare costs, as party leaders braced for a vote next week on health-care legislation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said her chamber remains on track to take up the legislation. She told rank-and-file Democrats at a midday meeting Tuesday that "this is the biggest thing we will do in our lives," according to people who took part.
Ms. Pelosi is facing resistance from centrists who say health-care legislation already passed by two House committees and under consideration by a third doesn't go far enough to contain costs.
One proposal pushed both by President Barack Obama and some centrists is to give the executive branch the authority to implement cuts to Medicare spending that would be recommended by independent experts. Congress could stop the cuts, but only if it acted swiftly. Fiscal conservatives say that under the current system, which gives Congress more power, lawmakers shy away from politically tough votes to restrain Medicare costs.
(Continued here.)
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Democratic centrists said they won a tentative commitment from the White House to back a proposal to curb the growth of Medicare costs, as party leaders braced for a vote next week on health-care legislation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said her chamber remains on track to take up the legislation. She told rank-and-file Democrats at a midday meeting Tuesday that "this is the biggest thing we will do in our lives," according to people who took part.
Ms. Pelosi is facing resistance from centrists who say health-care legislation already passed by two House committees and under consideration by a third doesn't go far enough to contain costs.
One proposal pushed both by President Barack Obama and some centrists is to give the executive branch the authority to implement cuts to Medicare spending that would be recommended by independent experts. Congress could stop the cuts, but only if it acted swiftly. Fiscal conservatives say that under the current system, which gives Congress more power, lawmakers shy away from politically tough votes to restrain Medicare costs.
(Continued here.)
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