WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Senate rebels jumped into Congress' cut-the-deficit competition on Tuesday, proposing to raise the age of Medicare eligibility to 67 and increase monthly premiums for millions of current beneficiaries.

Coburn"We can't save Medicare as we know it," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. (top), who authored the plan with Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (left). "We can only save Medicare if we change it," he added in an apparent jab at President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.

Democrats reacted with criticism of the proposal, which Coburn said was designed to rescue the financially imperiled program and help the nation confront a "wall of debt." Republicans betrayed no sign of support either.

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