Senate 'Gang of six' launches public campaign for deficit reduction

Their effort focuses on educating the public about the importance of overhauling Medicare and other entitlement programs if the national debt is to be tamed.

The New York Times: A Rare Bipartisan Call To Share Budget Pain
Such efforts face a hard slog not only on Capitol Hill, but also among the public. Polls consistently show that Americans want the White House and Congress to rein in the mounting long-term federal debt. Yet by large majorities they oppose many specific proposals to reduce the future costs of Medicare and Medicaid and to ensure Social Security's long-term solvency (Calmes, 3/7).

The Washington Post: 'Gang Of 6' Senators Launch Public Campaign To Support Deficit Reduction
While Washington bickers noisily over cutting a small slice of the federal budget, Sens. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, launched a campaign Monday to convince the public that merely cutting spending will do little to tame the $14 trillion national debt. The nation will be "up the creek" economically, Warner told a crowd of more than 200 lobbyists and business leaders in Richmond, unless Congress and the White House come together in support of highly unpopular measures such as raising taxes and overhauling Social Security and Medicare (Montgomery, 3/8).