Does Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito support the GOP budget?

by: Clem Guttata

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 16:13:49 PM EST

There's new and surprisingly detailed GOP budget proposal:

First, it calls for big cuts in Social Security benefits for everyone currently under 55 years of age. On top of the cuts it also calls for privatizing Social Security.

Basically the exact plan President Bush tried in 2005. Next, it calls for the full privatization and phasing out of Medicare. It'll be replaced by a system of vouchers in which instead of getting Medicare you get a voucher to buy un-reformed private insurance.

Weirdly, with all that, the draft GOP budget doesn't get the federal budget into surplus until sometime after 2060, which seems like a pretty long time. But isn't this sort of a big deal? House Republicans are poised to run in 2010 on slashing or abolishing the two most popular federal government programs -- Social Security and Medicare.

You may remember that Capito brought President Bush to West Virginia to talk up his Social Security privatization plan, so presumably she'll be on board with that.

Really though, someone ought to ask Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) what she thinks of her party's budget. And, if she's not for it, what is her plan for reducing the deficit?