The Co-chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform are former Senator Alan K. Simpson, a Republican, and Erskine B. Bowles, a Democrat and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton- neither holding office. Other non-elected officials on the commission are David Cote, chief executive of Honeywell International, and Alice Rivlin, a former budget director for Congress and later for President Clinton and Ann Fudge, a former executive of Young & Rubicam AND Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union.The commission is made up of 18 members, six Democratic elected politicians and six Republican elected politicians. The commission needs 14 votes out of the 18 members to move forward.
Commission Members (Source)
Co-Chairmen:
Sen. Alan Simpson. Former Republican Senator from Wyoming.
Erskine Bowles, Chief of Staff to President Clinton
Commissioners:
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA 31)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI 4)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
David Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell International
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Ann Fudge, Former CEO, Young & Rubicam Brands
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX 5)
Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute and former Director, Office of Management & Budget
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL 9)
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC 5)
Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union
Executive Director:
Bruce Reed, Chief Domestic Policy Adviser to President Clinton
Out of the elected politicians, the recently released proposal has garnered the committed support of one Republican, Judd Gregg (Republican leader on the Senate Budget Committee) and one Democrat, Kent Conrad (Democratic leader of the Senate Budget Committee) so far, with the final vote delayed until Friday.
Out of the non-elected officials there is formal support by the two co-chairmen and two of the non-elected officials with indicators that one of the other non-elected officials (Ann Fudge) will also be supportive.
So, other than the two leaders of the Senate budget Committee, the only other announced support is from the non-elected officials.
12 elected politicians, only two committing support as of yet, six non-elected members and four them stating definite support, one it is assumed will be supportive.
What is wrong with this picture? Politicians!!!
Perhaps Obama's debt reduction commission should not have had any seated elected officials that are too busy playing to their respective bases to be able to honestly deal with reducing the nation's debt.
Background:
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a bipartisan panel created to find ways to reduce the mounting federal debt.
President Obama established the commission by executive order in February 2010, after legislation to create a similar panel was defeated in the Senate by a group of Republicans who dropped their previous support for the bill. Mr. Obama told the commission members that "everything has to be on the table" as they consider options for reducing spending and increasing tax revenue. (Source)
Here is a link to the 66 page PDF proposal, aptly called "The Moment Of Truth"
Statements from Greeg and Conrad show that neither the Republican nor the Democratic politician completely agree or like everything in the proposal, they both understand that steps must be taken to take us off the path that is unsustainable for the country.
Judd Gregg:
"There are no easy fixes here, so while I do not agree with all parts of the co-chairmen’s final proposal, I will support it because it represents a step forward that we urgently need. Lawmakers in Washington are elected to make the decisions necessary to keep our country safe from harm and on solid economic footing. Inaction on our debt crisis is not an option at this point."
Kent Conrad:
"To be clear, I am supporting this plan as a package, because it represents genuine bipartisan compromise, with both Democrats and Republicans making concessions. I don’t like everything in this package, but I like even less where our country is headed without it. It would be much easier to say no and to oppose this plan. Anyone watching the spreading debt crisis in Europe over the last few days, in Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, understands the threat we face is real. We can’t afford to wait until the crisis is upon us.
I see the same litany from liberals about how this is a conservative leaning proposal, yet it bears noting that two-thirds of the 18 members were picked by the president or Democratic congressional leaders. Only six were appointed by Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell. (Source)
All in all, there are portions of this proposal that everyone will dislike for one reason or another because neither side of the political aisle wants to admit that one set of solutions, one political side's ideology, cannot solve the problem of our debt/deficits.
Everyone is going to have to sacrifice and no amount of pounding our chests, stomping our feet or throwing temper tantrums is going to negate that point.
Politicians playing to their base, scared of their next election, from either side of the aisle, should not have been placed on this commission.
(Corrections have been made to this post)