Allen West a first term US Congressman in Southeast Florida has suggested some radical proposals recently such as abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and Income Taxes.
He has also suggested to stop extending unemployment to discourage the bad acts of not looking for work.
Despite being from a district that has many retirement communities has has also pushed for entitlement reform.
West recently explained if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "are left on autopilot, if we don't institute some type of reform, they'll subsume our entire Gross Domestic Product" by 2040 or 2050.
Social Security, the largest federal program, mainly helps retirees. Medicare provides health coverage for elderly people. Medicaid helps those with low incomes. Combined, the three consume about 40 percent of the budget. Their costs are growing rapidly. Social Security and Medicare benefits now exceed the payroll taxes that fund them.
Obama's debt commission recommended gradually increasing the full retirement age, from 67 to 69, over the next 65 years.
In Washington, Democrats are conflicted. Thirty-two Senate Democrats joined 32 Republicans in urging Obama to negotiate a broad-based spending plan that includes changes to Social Security and Medicare.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he opposes cuts in Social Security benefits.
The centrist Democratic group Third Way says the public is ready to embrace gradual changes to entitlement programs and that Republicans are winning the issue so far.
"We don't believe Republicans 'going too far' will be their Waterloo," the group said in a memo. "The party seen as most serious on the issue will win the day."
If Republicans and Democrats cannot agree soon on spending plans for this year and next, the government could face its first partial shutdown since 1996. That prospect worries leaders of both parties, and they are watching to see if last week's recess hardened of softened lawmakers' positions.
West suggested there is room for compromise, but not much.
"I'm not for shutting down the government," he told the Coral Springs crowd. But he said Obama must lead the budget negotiations, or else.
If there is a shutdown, West said, "it's going to be because the president is not engaged."
Source: Charles Babington
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