Elizabeth Colbert-Busch on Budget & Economy

Drop the foolish idea of across-the-board cuts

• Medicare is prohibited by Congress from negotiating lower prices from drug companies. If Congress let Medicare officials do their job, we could save $24 billion every year.
• The Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan agency that serves as the government's internal watchdog, estimates that the Medicare program makes $44 billion in improper payments each year, most of which are overpayments.
• It is fraud too: The Rand Corporation estimated that fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid cost taxpayers $98 billion in 2011 alone.

Supports raising the debt ceiling

I am often asked if I support raising the debt ceiling. My answer is yes. I don't like it but it is the right and responsible thing to do. America has an obligation to pay what we owe. Not paying our bills would send a shock through the economy. And if you care about the national debt, then you must know that default would create more debt.