BIG TALK

McConnell: No More Debt Meetings

Insists “significant” changes needed for Medicare.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday, “We don’t need any more hearings” about the debt, saying instead that “significant” Medicare reforms are needed in exchange for lifting the legal limit on borrowing. McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the Senate, is part of a group of lawmakers from both parties meeting with President Obama on Friday to discuss the debt ceiling. Republicans have called for an overhaul of Medicare in exchange for raising the amount of money the country can legally borrow—a pressing problem since the country will reach that limit in August and will run out of money. McConnell said he will not insist on the controversial House plan to gut Medicare and will cooperate with the White House in drafting a “grand bargain” toward lowering the debt.