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Senate Democrats eye $4 trillion budget savings plan

WASHINGTON — A top Senate Democrat says he’s preparing a fiscal blueprint that resembles the bipartisan findings of President Barack Obama’s deficit commission and would curb the deficit by $4 trillion over the upcoming decade.

Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad says the plan calls for a complete overhaul of the tax code but will leave Social Security untouched. It’s a nonbinding plan still subject to revision but could receive a panel vote next week.

The House last month adopted a budget plan calling for a dramatic overhaul of Medicare, but the idea is a nonstarter in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Conrad is also part of a group of six senators that’s working on a separate track to devise a stronger plan that would seek to force Congress to pass deficit-slashing legislation.

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