Rep. Burgess says supercommittee should save money by cutting healthcare law

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) on Wednesday afternoon called on the new deficit-reduction supercommittee to find the bulk of the $1.5 trillion in budget savings required under the recent deal to raise the federal debt ceiling by cutting back the programs created under last year's healthcare law.

"The Select Committee is getting to work, and I encourage both parties, all 12 members, to put the Affordable Care Act on the table, alongside other entitlements in need of reform," he said on the House floor.

Burgess said other existing programs are on the table in the supercommittee, "so why shouldn't new entitlements created by the Affordable Care Act be as well?" Burgess cast his proposal as an easy way to cut the deficit, since many of the programs under the law have not yet been implemented.

"The easiest money to save is money you haven't yet spent," he said. "This new select committee could easily achieve almost their entire target of reducing the nation's deficit, and most surprisingly, almost every dollar would come from benefits that do not yet exist."

After his remarks, the House adjourned until about 5:30 p.m., when it will resume to take up three suspension bills.

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