"We need to summon the courage to make some tough decisions": Senator Mitch McConnell says entitlement reform is the key to successful debt ceiling negotiations

Natalie Gonnella

As the budget battle continues, in a speech on the Senate floor today, Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell challenged his colleagues to get serious about the nation’s debt crisis.

With speculation growing about a "Republican rift" over proposed changes to Medicare in the party's 2012 budget plan, here's a look at what Senator McConnell had to say to his congressional peers about the country's dire need for bold action on entitlement reform:

There are still those on the other side who think we can put off difficult decisions until after the next presidential election, or beyond. And Republicans strongly disagree.

In our view, doing nothing about the debt would be far more dangerous in the long run than failing to raise the debt ceiling. I’ve said this before. And Speaker Boehner reiterated the point yesterday in New York. The warning bells are simply too loud to ignore this crisis any longer, and the debt limit debate presents us with a prime opportunity for meaningful, positive action.

If the last financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we can’t afford to play with fire when it comes to economic forces this great. We need to get serious now, before the crisis that we know is coming hits. And that means entitlement reform needs to be on the table.

“This is a serious crisis. We must do something serious. Entitlement reform needs to be a part of it. That’s the only way we’ll send a message to the world that we are actually willing to make the tough decisions needed to get our fiscal house in order. That’s the only way the markets, the American people, and the rest of the world — especially those that hold so much of our debt — will believe we’re on the right track.

So as we prepare for a second round of talks, I would renew the call to get serious about this looming crisis. And do something serious. And I renew my pledge this morning to do what it takes to make sure we avert it without raising taxes, or building in automatic tax increases in the future, which would only destroy jobs. We can avert this crisis without doing harm to the economy or slowing down any economic recovery. That means no tax hikes now and it means not rewarding the failure of a future Congress with automatic access to more taxpayer dollars.

Above all, it means serious reforms. We need to summon the courage to make some tough decisions here.

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[melissa]

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