House Passes Republican Plan That Will Help Guide Budget Debate

The U.S. House yesterday passed a Republican budget that would cut spending by more than $6 trillion over a decade and privatize Medicare in a party-line vote that will help define the fight over the deficit into next year’s elections.

By a vote of 235-193, lawmakers approved House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal one day after wrapping up their first budget battle of the year with passage of a $38.5 billion spending cut for 2011.