Obama aide: GOP lacks entitlement plan

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- A top Obama administration adviser said Sunday the Republicans haven't come up with any great ideas on entitlement reform.

Steve Rattner, the so-called "car czar" who oversaw the controversial bailout of U.S. automakers, said that while Obama has been tackling other urgent issues, the GOP has had little to offer in the way of a plan to keep Social Security and Medicare on track.

Rattner told "Fox News Sunday" that the need for entitlement reform has been recognized on both sides of the aisle, but the proposals from presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other GOP leaders have been largely vague and not particularly acceptable.

"If you want to say that having a plan that would essentially eviscerate Medicare and turn it into a private program … is a better plan," said Rattner.

Romney adviser Ed Gillespie told Fox the bigger threat to entitlement programs came from Obama's overall economic policies, which he said were "job killers" that would prolong the nation's financial woes. "There are major differences between what Gov. Romney would do and what President Obama is doing and this is really the focus of this election," he said.