Criticism of Manchin goes mainstream

by: Carnacki

Wed Apr 27, 2011 at 23:28:12 PM EDT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Legislation backed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will prove disastrous for middle-class Americans and states like West Virginia, critics say.

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Ted Boettner, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said CAP and related proposals will make "deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare that will impact thousands of West Virginia seniors. The CAP Act is a Trojan horse for radically redistributing wealth from the middle class to the rich."

Sean O'Leary, a policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy, released an "issue brief" on Wednesday stating, "While on the surface, the plan looks like a benign proposal to handle the federal deficit and debt, it would eventually lead to major cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and possibly Social Security."

CAP's broad proposals, O'Leary added, completely ignore major factors driving increased spending, such as our aging population and rising health care costs.

"Cuts to these programs are of particular concern in West Virginia, where we have 380,000 Medicare beneficiaries, 330,000 Medicaid beneficiaries and 436,000 Social Security beneficiaries.

Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, said, "I am terribly disappointed that Sen. Manchin would support a back-door approach to the Ryan budget plans. I don't view his proposal to create caps any differently than I look at GOP proposals to starve out safety-net programs."