Cantor: Entitlement Reform Will Protect Seniors

By Anna Cameron

During his weekly press briefing Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) continued his assertion that Republicans are not in favor of a government shutdown, but remain committed to cutting spending at levels close to where they’ve proposed.

“We are not here to shut down the government,” Cantor said. “We are here to try to cut spending and live within our means, and we think that is an essential step toward creating an environment for job creation in the private sector.”

Though Cantor stressed several areas, both mandatory and discretionary, in which spending cuts are imperative, he displayed a strong commitment to preserving benefits for seniors.

“Our vision of entitlement reform will protect today’s seniors and those nearing retirement,” Cantor stated when asked if Republicans will pass a proposal that balances the budget within the next ten years. “As I am told, you cannot balance this budget in ten years without severely impacting the benefits that current seniors and retirees are getting now.”

Concerning spending cuts, the Majority Leader highlighted the many TARP and Dodd-Frank legislative programs that he described as “underutilized and ineffective,” as well as several GAO (Government Accountability Office) identified “duplicative” programs geared toward transport and teacher quality, among other things.

“When you are talking about getting rid of the duplicative programs there really is a lot of room for us to work together and come to agreement,” he said.

The Senate is expected to vote on the House-passed budget plan for 2011 on Wednesday evening, as well as introduce its own proposal, though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has predicted that both initiatives will fail.