Reid to Test Republicans on Deep Cuts, Medicare Changes

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - who is strongly against a budget proposal that will change the Medicare health care program for seniors to reduce costs - said Wednesday that he would test Republican senators commitment to the proposal by holding a vote.

On April 16, the House of Representatives passed a bill proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan R-WI, which calls for $5.8 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years, including changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs that will aim to limit the federal government's costs in the future.

Reid did not set a date for the vote.

Reid has accused Republicans of shifting the burden on costs to seniors with the plan while seeking to keep in place tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, earning more than $250,000 per year annually.

There will be an opportunity in the Senate to vote on the Ryan budget to see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as the House did, Reid told reporters in a conference call, according to the Huffington Post.

Without going into the Ryan budget we will see how much the Republicans like it here in the Senate, he said.

The Republican budget proposal for 2012 aims to sharply reduce healthcare spending and other domestic spending.

The Obama administration has proposed $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next 12 years, while raising taxes for more affluent taxpayers.

Republicans have also tied a deal on long-term budget cuts to a vote to raise the federal debt ceiling past $14.3 trillion. Failure to raise the debt limit could have dire consequences for the creditworthiness of the United States, according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.