The nation is at a crossroads and facing unprecedented challenges, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, told a friendly audience in Henrico County on Wednesday.
"I do believe that there is a big choice in front of us, and that choice is almost one of an existential nature," he told the Rotary Club of West Richmond. "It is what kind of country do we want to be, and it is squarely based, I think, on the economy today … of what are we going to do to get back in the mode to grow?"
Cantor talked up the recently released GOP jobs plan and the budget proposal put forth by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which includes changes to Medicare.
The Medicare trust fund for seniors is projected to run out of money in 2024, according to a summary released in May by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees.
One man in the audience asked how to fix a Medicare system "that far out of whack." Under Ryan's plan, recipients would choose a plan subsidized by the government. It would not change benefits for people age 55 and older, Cantor said. Democrats call the plan extreme and cite it as a reason that Republicans recently lost a New York congressional seat in a special election.
"My question back to them is, 'If you don't like our plan, what is yours?'" he said.
After the program, Cantor, who has called on Republican presidential candidates to embrace the House budget plan, replied "yes" when asked if he'd like to see Republican U.S. Senate candidates do the same.
"Yes," he said. "I believe that the proposal that we've put forward is a credible plan to reduce spending and to reform the system so that we can see a return to prosperity."
Many candidates were reluctant to back it even before the GOP lost the New York seat.
U.S. Senate candidate George Allen has offered tepid praise for the plan, calling it a "constructive" starting point, but he avoided a wholesale endorsement.
Allen "commends Congressman Ryan for offering a thoughtful plan that has started a very important debate," said Allen spokeswoman Katie Wright.
3 comments:
Cantor looks just like Clark Kent...and appears about as weak.
Until Cantor officially comes out the closet, I don't want to hear what he has to say.
The same people screaming that the trust fund is going broke are the ones who passed a huge medicare drug program with no taxs to pay for it. Just what did they think would happen?
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