House Republicans begin work to defund health law

On Capitol Hill, government spending is the hot topic. House Republicans look to save money by defunding the new health law, and some members of the Senate are examining ways to cut entitlements.

The Washington Post:  House Republicans Begin Efforts To Defund Health-Care Overhaul
Republicans launched this week the first of what they vow will be a series of attempts to use their control of the House of Representatives to defund the health-care overhaul law (Aizenman, 2/18).

The Hill: Latest GOP Repeal Tactic: Starve The IRS
Republicans pushing to cut off funding to implement the healthcare reform law are setting their sights on the Internal Revenue Service. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) launched the first major IRS-targeted attack this week, introducing an amendment to the GOPs spending bill that would prevent the agency from paying employees to implement the reform law's individual and employer mandates (Millman, 2/17).

The Hill: Boehner Says Spending Must Be Cut, But Senate Democrats Won't Budge
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday ruled out a short-term government-funding bill that maintains current levels of federal spending, escalating a standoff with Democrats and President Obama that could result in a government shutdown. "I am not going to move any kind of short-term [funding bill] at current levels," he told reporters at his weekly press conference. "When we say we're going to cut spending, read my lips, we're going to cut spending," Boehner added, invoking George H.W. Bush's infamous and ultimately broken pledge on taxes during the 1988 presidential campaign (Berman, 2/17).

The Hill: Sen. Conrad Worries Democrats By Calling To Revisit The Healthcare Debate
Unshackled by the need to get reelected, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) suggested Thursday that Democrats reopen the bitter healthcare debate, arguing that the reform law's provisions could yield opportunities to cut the federal deficit. But several Democratic colleagues rejected the idea — it did them enough damage in the last election cycle — over worries that those facing re-election in 2012 could be faced with a storm of negative political ads (Bolton, 2/17).

The Washington Post: Bipartisan 'Gang of Six' In Senate Developing Framework For Deficit Reduction
With President Obama calling for bipartisan talks to tackle the nation's budget problems, a group of influential senators from both parties is developing a framework that calls for higher taxes and limits on all categories of government spending. ... The group hopes to advance the commission's recommendations, which would reduce deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. Doing so would require lawmakers to embrace some politically perilous policies, however, including raising the retirement age to 69, charging wealthy seniors more for Medicare and ending some cherished but expensive tax breaks (Montgomery, 2/18).

The Hill: Dem Leader: GOP Bears Burden On Entitlements
Proposing reforms to the nation's entitlement programs is the Republicans' responsibility, a House Democratic leader charged this week. GOP leaders have blasted Democrats - particularly President Obama - for largely sidestepping reforms to Social Security, Medicare and the other entitlement programs this year. But Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), vice chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, said Thursday those criticisms are misplaced (Lillis, 2/18).