Priorities

Senator Warner voted for a deal today that would raise the debt limit and cut $2.1 trillion in federal spending. The Roanoke Times summed up the Senator’s vote in a blog post earlier: 

Warner, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, has argued for a comprehensive approach to tackling the country’s deficit and debt problem and said the compromise passed today is not a long-term solution. The former Virginia governor is a key member of the Senate’s bipartisan “Gang of Six” that produced a framework for cutting the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years through spending cuts, entitlement reforms and tax reforms.

The task of tackling issues such as entitlements and taxes will be left to a 12-member joint committee appointed by the party leaders in both houses of Congress. Warner said Monday that he would like to be appointed to the panel, but expressed concerns that “ideologically rigid” legislators will be appointed instead.

In a television appearance this morning, Warner was asked about reports that Republican leaders will appoint members who won’t consider tax increases. Warner said most economists believe deficits must be pared by close to $4 trillion over the next 10 years, at least $1.5 trillion more than the savings generated by the bill passed today. 

“That’s got to include revenues; it’s got to include entitlement reform,” Warner said in an appearance on MSNBC.