I really wish that we had someone other than Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) as our Budget Committee chairman. I am certain that progressives are going to hate his budget plan.
One lawmaker who attended the meeting said Conrad did not endorse empowering the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices on behalf of all Medicare beneficiaries.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who earlier this year introduced legislation to that effect, argued in the meeting that giving the federal government authority to negotiate drug prices was an essential strategy for reducing government health spending, according to the source…
…Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading liberal advocate of protecting Social Security and Medicare benefits, said he has a fundamental disagreement with most of his colleagues after leaving Conrad’s briefing.
But he said while Democrats in Washington may be persuaded to support cuts, they will find it tough to push that argument outside the Beltway.
“This isn’t going to be won inside the Beltway, it’s going to be won outside the Beltway,” he said.
Another liberal member who attended the meeting said Conrad’s plan is “not as bad” as the plan laid out by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
“It doesn’t voucherize Medicare,” the lawmaker said.
That doesn’t sound like high praise. I have no idea how Conrad expects to pass his budget. I can’t see a single Republican voting for anything that would be acceptable to the majority of the Democratic caucus. It’s going to be a rough year.
