Beating back a House-passed budget bill, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican resolution that would have ended Medicare and Medicaid as we know them and slashed programs for working families. Only 40 senators voted to take up the budget resolution that Republicans had muscled out of the House on a party-line vote last April 15. In a floor speech shortly before Wednesday's Senate vote, Sen. Bernie Sanders focused on the impact on Medicare. "It would end Medicare as we know it by giving senior citizens inadequate vouchers to buy health care," he said. "It is a disaster." That's not all. The kicker, Sanders added, was that the Republican plan would provide $1 trillion in additional tax breaks for wealthy individuals and profitable corporations.

At a time when this country faces a $14 trillion national debt and a huge deficit, Sanders has said Congress must aggressively move toward deficit reduction. But he has insisted that any solution to this crisis includes shared sacrifice - not simply slashing programs which are of enormous importance to working families, the elderly, the sick, children and the most vulnerable members of our society.

He also has stressed that our national debt was built up over the last 10 years because of two wars, tax breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug program. All unpaid for. The deficit also soared as a result of declining tax revenues during a recession brought on by the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street. And he has noted that the debate over deficit reduction comes at a moment in American history when the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty is increasing, the gap between the very wealthy and everybody else is growing wider.

"Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the increasing wealth of the people on top, it should surprise no one that poll after poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans want the deficit to be addressed through shared sacrifice. They believe that all sectors of our society should take a hit in order to help us with deficit reduction, not just the weak and vulnerable. Unfortunately, the Republicans have given us an extreme one-sided budget which makes devastating cuts to programs that tens of millions of Americans depend upon, while asking nothing from the wealthy and large corporations.," he said.

As the budget debate moves forward, Sander said the question now is where are the Democrats? Where is President Obama? "Will the president remain strong in his demand that any deficit reduction agreement end Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy? Will he really fight to eliminate corporate tax loopholes? Will he end the absurd policies which allow the rich and large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in taxes by establishing phony addresses in off-shore tax havens?" Sanders asked.

As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, Sanders said he will not support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared sacrifice. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction plan must come from increased revenue from the wealthy and large corporations. The deficit crisis cannot be solved on the backs of the weak and vulnerable, he said. Every segment of our society, including those who have money and power, must contribute and must sacrifice.