The Hill News

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Monday that the president's jobs and budget bill "is not going to be the bill that is going to pass" and that cuts to Medicare should be put on the table as Congress debates how to stimulate the economy while reining in spending.

"I believe that [President Obama] has put out a proposal that is credible but is not going to be the bill that is going to pass," Cardin said on WBAL's "The Ron Smith Show." "All parts of the federal budget must be part of it … I don't think it's realistic that healthcare isn't going to be part of this."

{mosads}Cardin also echoed Republican talking points of late, arguing that the federal government needed to provide greater certainty on regulatory and tax conditions.

"The best thing the government could do is to give predictability to the private sector," Cardin said. "When I talk about predictability, it's also on the regulatory front … our regulatory structure doesn't give that! type of predictability and confidence to the private sector."

But Cardin said that he did believe that the president's $3 trillion in proposed cuts and tax increases was a good starting point, and that partisans would soon start to come together to sort out the budget.

"We understand we need to compromise; it won't be what one party wants," Cardin says.

The senator also acknowledged that the political climate was dangerous for incumbents like himself up for reelection in 2012.

"I think voters are extremely anxious, angry they don't know what the future is going to bring," Cardin said. "The performance of the economy is very, very important."