J. Exon: “If last year was the Republicans' winter of discontent, this is their spring of missed opportunities. I know the…”

“If last year was the Republicans' winter of discontent, this is their spring of missed opportunities. I know the Republicans wanted to hit one out of the ballpark with this budget, but what they did reminds me more of the Red Sox's Bill Buckner in the infamous 6th game of the 1986 World Series. That is when he let Mookie Wilson's grounder roll through his legs. The Mets rallied and eventually won the series. That was a missed opportunity on a grand scale; so is this budget. There was a chance--granted a small one--to craft a compromise on a balanced budget this year. To his credit, the President has repeatedly offered to come back to the bargaining table. As he has pointed out, at the very least, we could have agreed on the common savings in both the Republican and the Democratic plans. But the Republicans rebuffed the President, and now we are saddled with this GOP budget retread. It still has too many reductions in Medicare--reductions that are not necessary to maintain the solvency of the trust fund. As much as the Republicans bridle at the suggestion, the size of the tax breaks always has and still does determine the size of the Medicare reductions. The Medicaid provisions still jeopardize the guarantees to health for our most vulnerable citizens.”