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Politico...
Clock ticking on Gang
of 6 talks
By Manu Raju & Meredith Shiner
For the past few months, a bipartisan group of six senators has quietly
tried to broker a grand bargain that would make a huge dent in the
national debt and become a springboard for a once-in-a-generation deal
on entitlements and spending.
But the so-called Gang of Six’s slow-moving negotiations may get
overrun by classic Washington partisanship.
President Barack Obama is planning to give a national address Wednesday
on entitlement reform — putting a partisan mark on a long-term spending
vision. And the House by the end of this week will most likely vote
purely along party lines on Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s audacious
long-term budget plan.
So far, leaders of both parties don’t seem to be picking up the phone
to ask the Gang of Six to rush their proposals to the Senate and House
floors, leaving them in the back room to negotiate among themselves.
The White House hasn’t been active in its outreach either, Senate
sources said.
Leaders of the group acknowledge that time is running short, and
they’re trying to figure out a way to set themselves apart from Ryan
and Obama, taking a centrist path to deficit reduction — the only plan
that’ll be able to achieve bipartisan support.
“A few weeks ago, they were the only ones talking about it, but they
are still the only game in town,” said Jim Kessler, vice president for
policy for the centrist Democratic group Third Way.
It’s possible that elements of the plan the six senators — Mark Warner
(D-Va.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) — draw up could
end up in a bipartisan deal if Obama and House Republicans can reach
one.
But that assumes House Republicans and the White House want to
legislate rather than posture ahead of the 2012 election — and that
assumes the Gang of Six can actually reach a deal.
The GOP is already criticizing Obama ahead of his Wednesday speech, and
Democrats are relentlessly attacking Ryan’s fiscal 2012 budget, which
promises to cut trillions in spending and to privatize Medicare for
future beneficiaries.
And the Gang of Six doesn’t have a firm timeline for releasing its
plan, potentially leaving it behind in a pivotal moment in the budget
crisis.
Leaders of the group acknowledge the clock is ticking with the national
debate having suddenly shifted to a more consequential fight over
reforming entitlements, overhauling the tax code and making a long-term
dent in discretionary spending.
Warner and Chambliss acknowledged their group’s challenges on Monday.
Speaking with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the two senators
refused to lay out a timetable but said their plan would reduce the
debt by $4 trillion over the next decade. And they seemed well aware
that it is time to enter the debate as a fight looms over raising the
national debt ceiling.
Read the rest of the article at Politico
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