U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) revealed Monday a plan for $9 trillion in federal spending cuts over the next ten years, slashing budgets for everything from defense spending to Medicare.
The plan, reported CBS News, would cut $974.1 billion from the general government, and more from Congress and the president.
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would see over $2 trillion in cuts alone. According to CBS, changes to these programs would include raising the Medicare eligibility age, tracking prescription drug abusers, reducing subsidies to teaching hospitals and enrolling low-income seniors in managed-care programs through Medicaid.
"If Washington does not begin making these difficult choices today, those decisions will be made for us tomorrow and the results could be catastrophic," Coburn wrote in a press release. "The only guaranteed entitlements for future generations will be debt and lower standards of living."
High earners will see fewer Social Security benefits under Coburn's plan. He also proposed raising the retirement age and adjusting cost-of- living increases to reflect inflation rates.
Virtually every federal agency would see cuts under the plan, with the most, over $1 trillion, directed at the Department of Defense. The plan also targets federal employees, with over 300,000 cut from the workforce. Congress, along with federal workers, would get a three-year pay and bonus freeze.
