The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Bowles-Simpson) was only necessary because neither party can unilaterally makes the kind of radical budgeting decisions necessary to bring our budget into balance. There are two reasons for this. First, the parties both enjoy enough power to block a plan imposed by the other side, which makes compromise necessary. Second, neither party can take 100% of the political fallout from massive budget cuts/tax increases and survive. Both parties need the other party to take tough unpopular decisions so that the blame is shared. So, the entire premise of the Bowles-Simpson endeavor was that both sides would make concessions that infuriate their respective bases and the wider public. The Democrats cautiously took steps in that direction but discovered that the Republicans would not accept any kind of revenue increases. Yes, the Simpson-Bowles plan technically had revenue enhancements, but the GOP wouldn’t sign off on those enhancements. People seem to forget that the Commission did not approve any plan. What they delivered was a plan that they themselves had rejected.
That, in turn, led to the SuperCommittee which ran into the exact same problem. Despite onerous cuts, especially to defense spending, that were supposed to assure some kind of deal would be reached, the Republicans would not agree to any new revenues and so the SuperCommittee failed, too.
And, yet, we still have this Cult of the Bowles-Simpson committee out there. Whether it’s Jamie Dimon testifying before Congress or Dana Milbank writing in the Washington Post, there seems to be a collective amnesia that the GOP never signed off on Bowles-Simpson. They continue to behave as if it is reasonable to expect the president of the United States to embrace the opposing party’s vision of America as his own.
It’s ruining this country, and I am tired of hearing idiots pine for Bowles-Simpson.
The strangest part of the whole Bowles-Simpson saga, to me anyway, is the persistent belief among internet progressives that Obama supported the non-plan they came out with, even after he let it sink like a stone.
Who actually appointed Bowles and Simpson to the panel? I’m just talking about those two. I know Orange Julius and The Turtle appointed the Zombie-eyed Granny-starver(aka Paul Ryan) and a few others. As Atrios has always said, no one really gives a crap about the deficit. The GOP only cares about it because they can use it to hamstring Democrats, and prevent any expansion of the welfare state. Anyone do a Google search and see how often the deficit was mentioned in the W. years?
Anyone do a Google search and see how often the deficit was mentioned in the W. years?
At least once!
What does that have to do with what Obama did with the plan?
Yeah, Obama ignored a plan from his very own blue ribbon commission. And?
The appointment of the Bowles-Simpson commission was the price that Obama had to pay to get Kent Conrad to support passage of the ACA by reconciliation. I do believe that that was obvious at the time.
I’m agnostic as to what Obama actually intends until the lame duck session of Congress in December is over. And until the military actually has to make the cuts that the Super-Committee fiasco produced.
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A bit of surprise! Geithner Says Fiscal Debate Began, Will End With Simpson-Bowles – June 14, 2012
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."The proposed tax policies in both the mark-up and the final report were progressive – taxing capital gains as regular income, reducing the mortgage write off, repealing the AMT.
Where it was truly awful was in its SS proposals and some of its Medicare proposals.
I have always said that progressive should have co-opted what they liked and ignored the rest. Republicans do that all the time to great effect so there is no reason we couldn’t have.
There was no final report. There was only a Chairmen’s draft.
I’ve been waiting for someone to write something like this.
It’s a mystery to me why so many people miss the basic facts about Bowles/Simpson:
So why does Obama keep getting blamed for not pushing Bowles/Simpson?
I did not realize that Tucker Carlson comes from the Swanson frozens foods fortune. That crap is more inedible than the Daily Caller.
You didn’t know that? Wow!!! Learn something new every day! 😉
I did not know until yesterday that Bain Capital holds controlling interest of ClearChannel. Interesting, eh what!
yeah BooMan.
tell it.
fuck Bowles-Simpson
“They continue to behave as if it is reasonable to expect the president of the United States to embrace the opposing party’s vision of America as his own.”
It is certainly reasonable to expect president Obama to embrace the Republican Party’s vision since that is what he usually does. That’s why Robert Kagan wrote “precious little now separates Barack Obama from most Republican leaders in and out of Congress”. By Obama’s own admission his signature achievement, the PPACA, is basically Mitt Romney’s plan from Massachusetts. He has continued (or expanded) virtually all of W. Bush’s programs. Obama even offered cuts to Medicare and Social Security to try and convince Republicans to help balance the budget.
And it’s not like this is the time to worry about balancing the budget, anyway.
Problem is: everything is a sacred cow; somehow beyon the budget cutting ax.
Look at the current farm legislation and 2013 budget for the defense depart.
Farm legislation, likely supported by numerous democrats in congress, chocked full of tax breaks/subsidies for wealthy farmers and large industrial farmers.
Defense budget: likely supported by numerous democrats, barely if at all uses Obama’s recommendations for cost reduction.
What bills are you talking about? The House budget resolutions? House appropriations bills? Something from the Senate?
To be fair, at least when Andrew Sullivan pines for that plan, he always points out that it would have been a great way for Obama to emphasize the contrasts between himself and the Republicans when they inevitably rejected it.
Of course, Sullivan being an economic Thacherite, actually loves the plan on the merits. But at least he isn’t under illusions as to the Republican response.
I’m talking about the 2013 Farm Bill and 2013 defense budget legislation.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/06/19/farm-bill-deal-reached-for-amendments-in-senate/