As Rachel explained last night, we all know what these guys would cut from the budget if given a chance: Social Security, Medicare, and veterans' benefits. They just aren't going to say it out loud. Here's an example from MSNBC's The Daily Rundown, where Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie try to get Rep. Kevin McCarthy to say just what programs the GOP would cut from the budget. As Think Progress noted, he couldn't name one.
GOP Pledge Architect McCarthy Can’t Name A Single Program He’d Cut From The Federal Budget:
Yesterday, House Republicans rolled out their “Pledge to America,” which is supposedly a series of ideas that the GOP would enact tomorrow, if given the chance. At the top of the list, of course, is a full extension of the Bush tax cuts — at a cost of almost $4 trillion — and a promise to allow no tax increases.
At the same time, though, the Pledge claims to put the country “on a path to a balanced budget.” But when it comes to spending cuts, it is incredibly vague, including only a promise to reduce non-defense discretionary spending to the 2008 level and to “set benchmarks” for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Today, in fact, the lead architect of the Pledge, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), couldn’t name a single program that he’d cut from the federal budget when pressed by MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd. Read on...
