Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the “fiscal cliff” negotiations.
The New York Times: Hospitals Fear They’ll Bear Brunt Of Medicare Cuts
As President Obama and Congress try to thrash out a budget deal, the question is not whether they will squeeze money out of Medicare, but how much and who will bear the brunt of the cuts. … But any significant tinkering with the benefits for older Americans comes with significant political risks, and most Democrats in Congress strenuously oppose raising the age when Medicare coverage begins. With growing pressure to reach an agreement on deficit reduction by the end of the year, some consensus is building around the idea that the largest Medicare savings should come from hospitals and other institutional providers of care (Pear and Abelson, 12/18).
The Wall Street Journal: Cleveland Clinic Diagnoses Health-Care Act
Just over a year from now, the Affordable Care Act is set to unleash enormous change in the health-care sector, and Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Delos “Toby” Cosgrove is preparing his institution by expanding its reach and striving to make caregivers more cost-conscious. … Dr. Cosgrove has pushed efforts to translate the system’s research work into new commercial opportunities ranging from a social-media site on beauty to a medical-device startup developing artificial-heart technologies. Cleveland Clinic is also striking deals with employers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to send workers to there for complex procedures, moves that lock in patients for high-end surgeries. The new federal provisions—which include cutbacks to Medicare payments and the creation of new health-insurance marketplaces for consumers—will test institutions like Cleveland Clinic (Mathews, 12/18).
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The New York Times: Boehner Plan Addresses Taxes But Delays Fight Over Spending Cuts
House Republican leaders struggled on Tuesday night to rally their colleagues around a backup measure to ease the sting of a looming fiscal crisis by allowing tax rates to rise only on incomes over $1 million. The plan would leave in place across-the-board spending cuts to military and domestic programs that Republicans have been warning could have dire consequences, especially to national defense. … Republicans would resume the fight for broad spending cuts, especially to entitlement programs like Medicare, in late January or February, when the government will face raising its borrowing limit and when, many Republicans believe, they will have much more leverage than they do now (Weisman, 12/18).
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Unveils A ‘Plan B’ If Budget Talks Fail
Despite progress toward agreement on a budget deal with the White House, House Republican leaders on Tuesday proposed a backup plan to prevent most Americans from facing an income-tax increase if negotiations collapse. … Both leaders face perils as they enter what could be the final stages of high-stakes negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes and spending cuts in early January. Mr. Obama will have to deal with liberals unhappy about entitlement cuts. Mr. Boehner faces a potential backlash from Republicans for contemplating tax-rate increases—both in his talks with the White House and in Plan B (Hook, Lee and Boles, 12/19).
The Washington Post: Boehner’s Backup Tax Plan Shakes Up ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Negotiations
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) veered off the bipartisan course he had been charting toward a broad tax-and-entitlement deal with President Obama and instead Tuesday pushed a GOP package to extend tax cuts for income up to $1 million. The move shook the Capitol after several days of significant progress between Obama and Boehner, who had moved closer to a pact raising taxes on the wealthy and curbing government spending, including on Social Security (Kane and Montgomery, 12/18).
Los Angeles Times: Boehner Changes Gears In ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Talks With Obama
The speaker made clear that he is not cutting off talks with Obama, but Democrats characterized Boehner as walking away just as compromise appeared within reach. This week, Obama made what White House aides saw as a substantial concession by telling Boehner that he would accept an agreement raising taxes on household income above $400,000, rather than the $250,000 threshold he had previously insisted on. He also proposed changes to reduce the long-term cost of government benefit programs, including Social Security (Mascaro, Parsons, and Memoli, 12/18).
Politico: Cliff Talks Turn Into Public Posturing
House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to pursue a fiscal cliff backup plan looked like an attempt to go his own way. But it was really about bolstering his position in the one-on-one talks with President Barack Obama (Sherman, Bresnahan and Budoff Brown, 12/18).
Politico: Many Democrats Unhappy With CPI Offer
After weeks of gleefully watching Republicans struggle to find their footing in fiscal cliff talks, it’s time for the Democrats to do some painful soul-searching of their own. President Barack Obama’s latest offer to congressional Republicans crosses lines that Democrats have long portrayed as untouchable. The provision causing the most heartburn for Democrats on Capitol Hill is one that would change the way inflation is measured to ultimately reduce payments to Social Security beneficiaries (Sloan and Kim, 12/18).
The Wall Street Journal: Budget Hawk Is Now Quiet As A Mouse
What will Paul Ryan do? … With talks at a crucial phase, Republicans are keeping close tabs on their recent vice-presidential nominee. His support for a compromise could stem conservative defections. His opposition could sink the deal entirely (O’Connor, 12/18).
The Washington Post: Eric Cantor Plays Loyal Lieutenant To Boehner
In the “fiscal cliff” drama, Cantor has been casting himself as a supportive bit player to Boehner, a contrast from the debt-ceiling showdown of 2011. At that time, Cantor had a starring role as a lead negotiator in high-level talks with Vice President Biden and as a chief antagonist to Obama, tangling with the president in one tense White House exchange. But that role did not go well for Cantor. It neither strengthened the GOP’s hand in the fiscal crisis nor served the lawmaker’s image. He emerged with a taint of disloyalty toward Boehner and a new reputation, carefully stoked by Democrats, as the leader of hard-liners unwilling to compromise (Helderman, 12/18).
Los Angeles Times: Most Americans Benefit From Entitlements
Forget the 47%. A new study finds that 71% of Americans live in a household in which at least one member has benefited from one of the federal government’s major entitlement programs. The new data, based on a survey by the Pew Research center, underscore the wide reach of the spending programs that make up the lion’s share of the federal budget. More than half of Americans (55%) have personally benefited from one of the government’s six best-known entitlement programs, including 53% of people who voted for Mitt Romney in November’s election and 59% of those who voted for President Obama (Lauter, 12/18).
