Dems to Offer GOP Another $20B in Spending Cuts

Measure falls short of two-thirds majority thanks to Democratic opposition

(AP) - The House has rejected a proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, seen by many as the only way to force lawmakers to hold the fiscal line and reverse the flow of federal red ink. The 261-165 vote was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment. Democrats, swayed by the arguments of their leaders that a balanced budget requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs, overwhelmingly voted against it. Four Republicans also voted against it. More»

And Democrats aren't happy about it

(NEWSER) - With Republicans and Democrats still leagues apart on the 2011 budget , House Republicans will vote today on yet another extension. This one would only be for a week, but would include a full-year Pentagon budget. It would also include a lot of domestic cuts, as the price to keep the government running. President Obama emerged from talks last night saying "a sufficient sense of urgency from all parties involved" was needed to avoid a shutdown. More»

Obama calls White House meeting as deadline looms

(NEWSER) - The federal government is careening rapidly toward a shutdown, so Democrats and Republicans alike are scrambling to ... lob political grenades at each other. Still. A roundup of the latest:

• President Obama today invited John Boehner, Harry Reid, and other top lawmakers to the White House tomorrow morning to "urge leaders to reach final agreement,” reports the Washington Post.

Plan would drastically slash Medicare

(NEWSER) - In an attempt to reframe the budget debate, Republicans are proposing a 2012 budget that features $4 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade—and would end Medicare as we know it, reports the Wall Street Journal . Democrats won’t likely support the 2012 plan, helmed by House Budget Chair Paul Ryan, but Republicans are betting Americans are concerned enough about the deficit that they’ll support vast cuts to a system that pays bills for many, the Journal notes. Under the plan, which would affect those now under 55, Medicare would become a “premium support” system. More»

Mandate has full support from Republican senators, none from Dems

(NEWSER) - The GOP is hoping to tack a 28th amendment on to the Constitution: one that would mandate a balanced budget. All 47 GOP senators are behind the proposal, which was announced yesterday, but "the whole thing is a long shot," an analyst tells Reuters . Earlier attempts have fallen through, and not one Senate Democrat has backed the idea. More»