Can a President unilaterally make Medicaid and foodstamps state block grant programs?

Wouldn't Congress have to pass such changes?

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Romney said he would block grant Medicaid and send programs like housing vouchers and food stamps back to the states. This, he argued, would save the federal government "approximately $100 billion a year within four years" (the House GOP budget claims to save $771 billion over 10 years). It would also mean dramatic cuts to each of these programs, as states are already dealing with major budget shortfalls.

Romney also told Fortune that he would reduce the number of federal programs by 10 percent through attrition, while tying the compensation of federal workers to that in the private sector. "That saves about $47 billion a year, by the way," he said.

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Theoretically, Romney could find savings to help pay for his tax plan in the defense budget. In his Fortune interview, he acknowledged that there were "enormous opportunities for efficiency and cost savings in the military." But in the very next breath, he committed himself to using those "those savings" not towards reducing the deficit "but instead will be necessary to increase the number of active-duty personnel by approximately 100,000, to restore our military equipment which has been destroyed in conflict, and to invest in the coming technologies of warfare."

In sum, Romney's plan would put off entitlement reforms for 10 years, and rules out reductions in defense spending and major changes to the current tax code, while promising to bring federal spending below 20 percent of GDP by 2016. The Washington Post's Ezra Klein argues this is either fantasy mathematics, or Romney would essentially have to cut every single federal program by 40 percent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/mitt-romney-tax-cuts_n_1778429.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular