The Debt Deal: "Operation Conditional Surrender"

By Terrance Heath

Created 07/06/2011 - 11:25am

So, just when it looked like President Obama was finally calling the GOP's bluff debt ceiling negotiations [1], it turns out he was preparing to fold [2].

Obama administration officials are offering to cut tens of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in negotiations to reduce the federal budget deficit, but the depth of the cuts depends on whether Republicans are willing to accept any increases in tax revenues.

Administration officials and Republican negotiators say the money can be taken from health care providers like hospitals and nursing homes without directly imposing new costs on needy beneficiaries or radically restructuring either program.