Snowe: No Medicare Or Social Security Cuts In Debt Deal (Susan Collins, Agreed)

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

Snowe: No Medicare Or Social Security Cuts In Debt Deal | Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) said she will not support any debt deal that includes cuts to the two social safety net programs, citing “strong bipartisan support.” “There are solvency problems with both programs. They have to be addressed but not as part of the debt reduction talks,” Snowe told the Bangor Daily News. It’s unclear how she would square that position with her support for a balanced budget amendment. But Snowe added, “There are a lot of tax credits that are not needed and should be repealed” — a position with which Maine’s other Republican senator, Susan Collins, agreed. “We spend billions of dollars a year in subsidies that go to some very wealthy corporate farmers,” Collins said.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/11/265792/snowe-no-medicare-ss-deal/

[joeybee12]

1. Phuck, Repukes to the left of the president...

I agree, we can argue about what, if anything, should be done to SS, but in debt ceiling talks, no effing way.

[polichick]

3. You beat me to it!

[SteveM]

10. Why am I not surprised at age 63. nt

[flamingdem]

19. Don't she can change her vote at the last minute nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I will have to call my Senators' offices tomorrow and thank them.

[high density]

4. Wow, two people who know how to get re-elected

interesting.

[polichick]

5. They must actually answer to the people to some extent.

[totodeinhere]

13. That is if they can mae it past their primaries. Tea Party types will definitely take both of them

on in their primary.

[rucognizant]

14. No CHANCE HERE IN MAINE

Tbaggers tried to take out Mike Michaud last Nov. ( with Koch money to his opponant) Fell falt completely! & he's a progressive Dem, except for abort
ion ( Catholic) He did sign on to Kucinich's bill to impeach CHeny!
The Eisenhower Repubs far outnumber the Tparty here, & even they are waking up now! LePage was a BIG WAKE-UP CALL!

[NC_Nurse]

6. Sane Repubs? Wow. Cool. They need to set Obama straight.

[HDPaulG]

7. Republicans play O'Bama like a fiddle....

Caver in Chief just got played again. Fail.

[madamesilverspurs]

8. Uh huh.

We trusted Snowe during the health care discussions. And how, exactly, was that trust repaid?


-

[HDPaulG]

11. Senate vote 60-39

In the final tally...Didn't need her 'aye'. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00396

[former9thward]

18. Needed 60 to avoid the fillibuster. So I guess we did.

[eilen]

12. The health care reform sucked. It basically

guarantees profits to health insurers with no cost control and included no public option (which was supposed to be the mechanism to keep costs down). I would not have voted for it either.

[julian09]

16. She wasn't for public option either

[Liberalynn]

9. Wow

thank you to her for that if she actually means it and will stick to it. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that the Senate will knock any talk of SS. and Medicare cuts out of the debt ceiling talks.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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[freshwest]

17. No mention of not cutting Medicaid, lifeline to the poor. Only Sanders fighting that death sentence.

[TomCADem]

20. Ok, yet she supports a balanced budget amendment?

And, as a Republican, I don't see her taking on Mitch McConnell's no-tax ultimatums.

So, she wants to cut the debt, not raise any taxes, and not cut entitlement programs?