As part of an event with the Wall Street Journal and corporate leaders, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) -- a leading Democrat and ranking member of the House Budget Committee -- indicated that he thinks cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits should be part of the upcoming deficit negotiations:
On Capitol Hill, it isn't clear how strenuously Democrats will resist cutting entitlements. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) said he and others were open to changes as long as they were done in a measured way and were part of deal that included tax increases. Mr. Van Hollen also said changing Social Security and increasing the Medicare eligibility age above 65 should be part of negotiations.
"I'm willing to consider all of these ideas as part of an overall plan," Mr. Van Hollen said Tuesday at the Journal's CEO Council.
http://boldprogressives.org/2012/11/chris-van-hollen-indicates-hes-open-to-cutting-social-security-and-medicare-tell-him-no/
From 2013:
Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today named three House Democratic Members to serve on a conference committee to complete a final FY 2014 budget agreement. She appointed Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn; Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the Budget Committee; and Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Ranking Member on the Appropriations Committee.
First, all three of them voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011. In case you forget, that was the legislation that came out of the manufactured crisis of July 2011. It imposed austerity on the country by capping spending levels and paving the way for sequestration cuts. Anyone who has not been living under a rock for the past few years should have known that the Supercommittee created by the BCA would produce no bipartisan deficit reduction plan, so a vote for the BCA was a vote for sequestration cuts.
He also did not sign the Grayson-Takano letter against benefit cuts
He didn't even do like 6 other congressional reps who didn't sign the letter but promised to oppose the chained CPI
And he didn't sign on to the Cancel the Sequester Act HR 782 sponsored by John Conyers
I don't trust someone like that
He comes across as a DC politician who will go along to get along
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