GOP TO OFFER BUDGET BLUEPRINT WITH MEDICARE, FOOD STAMP CUTS [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mar 16, 3:13 AM EDT

BY ANDREW TAYLOR

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans now in charge of Congress offer their budget blueprint this week with the pledge to balance the nation's budget within a decade and rein in major programs such as food stamps and Medicare.

More pressing for many Republicans, however, is easing automatic budget cuts set to slam the military. The chairmen of the House and Senate Budget panels plan to release their budget plans this week - the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. The nonbinding measure called a budget resolution sets broad parameters on taxes and spending; it requires follow-up legislation later this year to implement its balanced-budget goals, and Republicans are unlikely to take on that task as long as President Barack Obama occupies the Oval Office.

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., plan to produce blueprints that would balance the budget within 10 years - without raising taxes.

Instead, they will propose major spending cuts to programs such as Medicare, health care subsidies, food stamps and the Medicaid program for the poor and elderly to produce a budget that's balanced. Such cuts, if actually implemented later, would likely slash spending by $5 trillion or so over the coming decade from budgets that are presently on track to spend almost $50 trillion over that timeframe.

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