Both Brown and Kerry criticized the plan this week, but Brown had strong words for Congressional Democrats as well.
Massachusetts' U.S. Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Scott Brown, a Republican, confer in this AP file photo. Both of Massachusetts' U.S. Senators joined Democrats Wednesday in rejecting a House GOP budget proposal that would significantly alter Medicare. Five Republicans, Sen. Scott Brown among them, also voted against the measure.
Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, made clear his opposition to the proposal authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan during a speech in Dorchester Monday.
"We can balance the budget. We can reduce the deficit. We can get rid of the debt. And we can do it while still investing in the future of our country and not do it at the expense of seniors and children," Kerry said, according to the State House News Service.
(Still confused about what the Ryan proposal would do to Medicare? The Christian Science Monitor took a close look back in April.)
For his part, Brown published an op-ed in Politico earlier this week, arguing that "seniors should not have to bear a disproportionate burden" of Congressional budget cuts. Read Brown's op-ed »
Although Brown was among the five Republicans and two Independents to oppose the bill (Read the roll call vote here), afterward he strongly criticized Democratic leadership for not putting forth an alternative plan.
In a statement, Brown said:
Majority Leader Reid should stop playing divisive political games with our nation’s financial future and allow us to work on a bipartisan budget that is fiscally responsible and can pass the Senate. We are in a financial emergency right now: the national debt is more than $14 trillion, the annual deficit is pushing $1.5 trillion and we just hit our debt ceiling. This is no time for partisan politics. The American people deserve better.
The Associated Press reports that Vice President Joe Biden is brokering compromise meetings between senior lawmakers from both parties, as they attempt to reach consensus ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation's debt ceiling.