hillaryvillagers

A deficit of courage

Thursday, February 18, 2010

EVERY AMERICAN -- for that matter, a lot of folks in China, too -- should hope that the fiscal responsibility commission that President Obama plans to unveil Thursday succeeds at its assigned task: to get the deficit to 3 percent of the economy by 2015. Something has to be done to get the fiscal situation under control, sooner rather than later. No one should be under any illusions about the numerous obstacles to the commission's success. The difficulty is not so much figuring out how to achieve the goal -- taxes will need to be raised and entitlement spending limited -- as summoning the political will to inflict this pain. That will require more statesmanship from all three sides involved in the transaction -- President Obama, congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats -- than any have demonstrated so far.

We'll start with congressional Republicans, because their involvement is both essential and unlikely. The commission, to be headed by Democrat Erskine B. Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, and Republican Alan K. Simpson, former senator from Wyoming, is structured to require buy-in from Republican lawmakers, because the representatives they name will hold the key to whether the required supermajority -- 14 of 18 members -- will be reached. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) reversed his views and voted against legislation to create a commission; House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) has been dismissive. This does not bode well, but we can only hope that these leaders will manage to put partisanship and ideology aside and name serious lawmakers willing to tackle a serious problem.

Next, President Obama. His promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year was irresponsible when he made it and even more irresponsible now with the economy cratered and the debt engorged. There is no way to get to the president's goal without raising more revenue; there is no way to obtain that much money simply by piling taxes on the rich or closing corporate loopholes. George W. Bush's tax cuts are expiring at the end of the year. The commission must address whether they should be renewed and, more broadly, whether the system should be adjusted to include some form of tax on consumption.

The commission may give Mr. Obama cover to wiggle out of his campaign promises. But if it does not work, the president must come up with his own plan and take the double political hit of raising taxes and trimming entitlement spending. Changes will be required in Social Security and Medicare -- some combination of raising the retirement age, means-testing benefits and adjusting the inflation formula. The president's handling of this will answer the question of whether he was sincere when he said his administration would be the one to finally tackle the fiscal mess, no matter what the political consequences.

Finally, congressional Democrats. Just as the commission will not work if Republicans fail to step up to the plate at the start, it will be a waste of time if its product is not brought to a vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) have supposedly committed to a floor vote after the recommendations are released in December. But the best a Pelosi spokesman could do was to assure us that "my understanding is that she told the president she would bring the commission's recommendations to the floor if the Senate passes them." Would that be enough to persuade any commission member to risk his political life?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/17/AR2010021703836.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions

Is it true that the committee would not complete its report until November or December?  That sounds too late to be effective for another year.

I think governors need to be on the committee.

It's hard not to see the bureaucracy in the creation of another committee.

Taylor, every time a new committee, czar, commission, etc. come into play, a new set of bureaucracy is created, prolonging the coming of real progress.

I guess BO needs a committee to tell him to stop spending?