Extreme partisanship has made it doubtful whether Congress will
have the courage to forge a comprehensive, multiyear debt
reduction plan postponing it would be bad news for the country.
Both parties should move toward achieving fundamental fiscal
reform this year.
Some lessons learned from the President's Fiscal Commission and
the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force are:
1) Bipartisan Compromise is possible if all parties develop
trust and mutual respect and are willing to put their
respective sacred cows on the table.
2) Failure to reach an agreement this year is NOT an option.
If we FAIL TO ACT, our nation could face unaffordable interest
payments in excess of $1 trillion per year, which could crowd
out needed investments and lead to rising interest rates and
MASSIVE DEBT.
A fiscally responsible plan must be bold, comprehensive and
involve shared sacrifice by all except the most vulnerable. It
must restrain spending across the federal budget, slow the
interest of health care costs, reform the tax code and make
Social Security strong for the next 75 years and beyond with
modest changes to our current law.
The plan to reduct debt must be carefully phased in so as not
to undermine the recovery. No small feat!!!
Washington must create a more cost-effective federal government
and root out waste. Discretionary spending can be better
utilized and our tax colde dramatically simplified by eliminating
tax earmarks and subsidies. (A flat tax structure may be effective.)
A credible plan must address the growth of entitlement spending
cause by our aging population and unsustainable growth in health
care costs.
We can make Social Security financialy sound for future generation
through a combination of modest benefit changes and additional
revenues.
But right now we need to work toward bipartisan agreement.
Administration and congressional negotiators can benefit from
the work done by the Gang of Six and other groups.
TIME IS SHORT, OUR DEBT IS MOUNTING - DECISIONS NEED TO BE MADE.
