Deficit Commission

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., says that as of this morning she had not been shown the latest proposal of the White House deficit commission, even as she says it is being "shopped around" by its co-chairs in an effort to get the support of a simple majority of its 18 members—not the support of 14 members as was its original goal.

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The Citizens' Commission On Jobs, Deficits And America's Economic Future is releasing its report today, and its recommendations will be very different from those of the self-described "bipartisan" plans now dominating Washington conversations. (They are bipartisan in a way, come to think of it, since polls show that many of their ideas are disliked by both Democrats and Republicans.)

There is an urgent need to broaden the policy debate. Plans like the Simpson/Bowles and Rivlin/Domenici proposals rely on a narrow range of unpopular policy ideas - ideas that fail to address the causes of either current or projected deficits. What's more, they fail to recognize that a healthy government budget depends on a healthy economy, and a healthy economy depends on jobs. The Citizens' Commission's proposals bring deficit spending under control while investing in a future based on jobs and economic growth.

Don't believe the naysayers: It can be done. more »

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Democrats won the news cycle yesterday when they slammed John Boehner for calling the economic crisis an "ant." But winning a news cycle isn't the same as winning an election. A new poll shows that the President and his party risk political suicide if they join in the mad rush to cut Social Security, and a sleight-of-hand move by the House leadership today suggests they're considering it. more »

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We need smart economic policies to reduce our structural federal deficit over time. But we are in danger of killing or weakening needed growth in the name of reducing deficits, and some of our deficit-reduction strategies are misguided. Plus, reducing the deficit cannot be our only economic policy goal. We also need to invest in the future.

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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission, I know my time is short, so I will limit my testimony to eight key points:

First, stabilizing the national debt is a means to an end, not an end in itself. more »

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What caused the deficits and rising public debt? The answer comes in two parts: present deficits and projected future deficits. more »

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On Saturday, the group known as America Speaks (funded by Wall Street mogul Peter G. Peterson and two other foundations) brought together several thousand people in meetings in 60 cities. They gave participants misleading background information about the Federal deficit and economic options to achieve fiscal "balance" and future prosperity. more »

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The organizers of AmericaSpeaks, tomorrow's "town hall meeting"/media event designed to focus attention on budget-cutting, have issued a document called "Myths & Facts About AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy." A number of excellent pieces have already been written about the slanted point of view in their materials, which are d more »

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