Bernanke To Huizenga: We Don't Have A Choice On Entitlement Reform
Washington,
February 27, 2013
Today, Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) grilled Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke over the long-term drivers of our debt and how they are in dire need of reform:
Highlights: HUIZENGA: I'm afraid the headlines tomorrow are going to be "Bernanke blasts across the board cuts," or "Bernanke calls for a stoppage of the across the board cuts," when frankly, based on what I read and what I've heard in testimony today, I think the headlines ought to be, "Bernanke calls for long-term reforms." There's just a denial in this town in so many ways about what's happening in the future. What would you say to those who say we can't or shouldn't reform these long-term programs?BERNANKE: I don't think we have any choice. I've tried throughout this discussion to always have two parts to the recommendation. With the idea being that we want to reduce somewhat the fiscal drag in 2013, and I didn't -- you know, I'm not speaking only about the sequester, I talked about all of the fiscal actions which collectively are about 1.5 percentage points according to CBO, but I'm not here to recommend that we just kick the can indefinitely down the road. I think it's very important to address. HUIZENGA: So this is Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security reform? BERNANKE: The specifics are up to Congress. But obviously those... HUIZENGA: Well those are the long-term drivers of debt. So there you go folks, the headline for tomorrow is "Bernanke calls for long-term fixes." |
