Report: GOP signals Medicare concession

WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- Top Republicans in Washington suggested Wednesday they may drop demands for Medicare reform as part of a plan to reduce the federal debt and budget deficit.

As Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders prepare to begin talks on the budget and the deficit, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said his party evidently needs to consider other avenues than Medicare reform because President Barack Obama "excoriated us" on the Medicare issue, The Washington Post reported.

Cantor said Republicans still believe long-term fiscal stability requires changes in federal retirement programs, but he said they may need to consider other possible cuts to arrive at a consensus -- including GOP proposals to terminate payments to wealthy farmers, limit medical malpractice lawsuits and accelerate auctions of broadcast spectrum to telecommunications companies, the newspaper said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, told the Post the development could help end a partisan standoff over raising the national debt limit and avert a default.

"There's common ground there," Van Hollen said.

Cantor has indicated House Republicans participating in the talks with Biden will push for federal spending cuts in the budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, strict targets requiring further cuts beyond the next fiscal year, and legislation this session to require the government to begin meeting such targets, the Post reported.