J. Scott Applewhite - AP
UNC system President Erskine Bowles is in a familiar suite of offices this morning: the West Wing, complete with a Rose Garden appearance with the President.
Bowles, a Democrat who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, is co-chairing President Barack Obama's deficit reduction commission along with former Sen. Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican. The commission held its first meeting this morning.
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was organized to craft bipartisan solutions to reduce the federal deficit from last year's $1.4 trillion to $550 billion by 2015. The commission is scheduled to deliver its recommendations to Obama by December.
Obama told reporters in the Rose Garden this morning, with Bowles and Simpson, that there are no restrictions on the commission's recommendations: "Everything is on the table." The group's success, he said, will require members of both parties to make politically difficult decisions.
"In theory, there are few issues on which there is more vigorous bipartisan agreement than fiscal responsibility," Obama said. "But in practice, this responsibility for the future is often overwhelmed by the politics of the moment. It falls prey to special interest pressures, to the pull of local concerns, and to the reality familiar to every single American -- it’s a lot easier to spend a dollar than to save one. That’s what, at root, led to these exploding deficits. And that is what will lead to a day of reckoning."
The commission has 18 voting members, appointed by Obama and the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Any recommendations will require 14 out of 18 votes to ensure bipartisan support, according to a White House spokeswoman.
(Full text of Obama's remarks below.)
Document(s):
obama_remarks.pdf
Comments
TAXES TAXES TAXES TAXES....
April 27, 2010 - 7:45pm — paineintheneckWhy don't we save a lot of time, money and bloviation and jump right to the brilliant conclusion that will be reached by this panel of hand-picked liberal hacks: RAISE TAXES!
No surprise their findings
April 27, 2010 - 5:28pm — PhantomLordNo surprise their findings (tax increases, and likely a VAT that the Obama admin has been discussing) will be released after the Nov. elections.
Irksome Bowels is part of the problem!
April 27, 2010 - 3:35pm — BitterEXdemocratHOW can ShamBama be so damned ignorant?
Wag That Dog
April 27, 2010 - 2:35pm — DrMaryJohnsonYou know, the headlines that keep coming in under this administration would be funny if they were not such a sad joke.
It's a joke
April 27, 2010 - 2:06pm — FreedomSeekerObama raises the debt $2 Trillion.
Then, he brags about his financial responsibility by claiming he's cutting the budget by $20 Billion.
And he does it with a straight face. It's a joke.
Pointless endeavor
April 27, 2010 - 12:07pm — NotLiberalThis commission can agree to do whatever they like, but even if they find common ground, it will be for naught. Because this group has no power to change anything. They can only make recommendations. Those recommendations still have to go to Congress and the President for approval. And lets face it, any lasting changes that could have gotten approval by a political party in Congress would have already been approved.
This group only has three options: raise taxes, cut benefits, or a combination of both.
The political party or members that agree to any of the above will be the group out of a job come the next election.
Deficit Cutting
April 27, 2010 - 11:15am — henryeA good place to start would be to close The Mints printing of worthless money..
We all know its impossible to spend our way out of Debt. But the politicians don't seem to care. I think the best way to balance the Budget would be if our Trading partners would start demanding Gold for all our purchases. And at some point in time our dependence on imported oil may well be our first encounter with just that.
No deficit
April 27, 2010 - 10:56am — yourkillingmeWhy not a balanced budget and start paying down the national debt. I have little faith in this group.