House Republican leaders are in a strange position today. Several of them acknowledged publicly that their plan to privatize Medicare — which they voted for when they passed in their budget — won’t win the day with Democrats, and, thus, probably won’t survive bipartisan debt negotiations.
But if the hope is to sweep their position down the memory hole, Democrats won’t let them or the public forget.
“The Republicans are slowly realizing their plan to privatize Medicare is a political disaster, but until they renounce their vote for it, they are still going to own it,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) both say the GOP still supports the Medicare plan in their budget, even if it won’t win the day in the end.
