Progressives are escalating their campaign to warn House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer off cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as he quietly pursues significant deficit reducing legislation with members of both parties. On Thursday, they will deliver 148,000 petitions to his Capitol offices.
“Representative Hoyer is hearing from thousands of Americans letting him know that we will not stand for any back room deal that puts cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security benefits on the table,” said Becky Bond, Political Director of CREDO Action, an online advocacy group. “[W]orking with Republicans on a deal which will preemptively cave on cuts to our social safety net is not acceptable from the second most powerful Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives.”
Hoyer has been working behind the scenes with members of the House and Senate to draft, vote on, and, he hopes, pass a significant deficit-cutting bill before the November election. And he’s stipulated that in these negotiations, everything (including higher taxes and entitlement cuts) is on the table.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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