Boomers await Obama's plan to overhaul retiree spending

With a record $1.2 trillion deficit, boomers await President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul Medicare and Social Security. The plan would be “a central part” of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, according to the New York Times. Obama provided no detail Wednesday on his approach, but the president-elect says he will unveil a budget next month, according to the Times:

“Should he follow through with a serious effort to cut back the rates of growth of the two programs, he would be opening up a potentially risky battle that neither party has shown much stomach for. The programs have proved almost sacrosanct in political terms, even as they threaten to grow so large as to be unsustainable in the long run. President Bush failed in his effort to overhaul Social Security, and Medicare only grew larger during his administration with the addition of prescription drug coverage for retirees.”