Led by President Obama, pressure is building on Senate deficit committee to "go big" on program cuts

[Better Believe It]

Pressure Builds on Deficit Panel to ‘Go Big,’ Beyond Its Mandate, in Cuts
By JACKIE CALMES
September 12, 2011

Led by President Obama, pressure is building on the new Congressional committee on deficit reduction to “go big” — beyond its mandate to shave as much as $1.5 trillion from budget shortfalls over 10 years — even as doubts remain about the panel’s ability to find enough bipartisan agreement to meet even the original goal.

A group of at least 57 prominent business executives and former government officials have signed a petition in support of a greater deficit reduction, which they are to release at a news conference on Monday. Among them are former treasury secretaries, budget directors and economic advisers to eight presidents from Richard M. Nixon to Mr. Obama; former Congressional leaders; and executives of top companies.

Their letter reflects a broad sense of urgency in both parties, and among economists and businesses, that the nation must put in place long-range measures to shrink future deficits. At current spending levels, those deficits are expected to balloon over the next decade as the population ages and as health care costs rise.

Generally that level is estimated at $4 trillion in deficit reductions over the decade, savings that would build in later years. Because Congress and Mr. Obama already agreed last month to nearly $1 trillion in reductions in so-called discretionary spending for social and military programs, the special committee would have to find more than $3 trillion more to meet that goal — double its mandate for $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion, written into the August deficit-reduction deal.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/us/politics/12fiscal.html?_r=1&ref=politics


-------------------------------------------



NEWS RELEASE

Over 60 Business Leaders, Former Government Officials, Experts
Urge Super Committee to ‘Go Big’
September 12, 2011

At the National Press Club today, Fiscal Commission co-chairs Erskine
Bowles and Alan Simpson released a letter to the Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction (‘Super Committee’) urging the Committee to ‘go big’ on
deficit reduction. The letter was co-signed by a bipartisan group of over 60
business leaders, former government officials, and budget and economic
experts. The Super Committee is tasked with recommending a plan to
reduce deficits by at least $1.5 trillion. The letter, however, urges the Super
Committee to expand their mandate and produce a comprehensive deficit
reduction package that would stabilize the debt.

The letter reads, “We believe that a go big approach that goes well beyond
the $1.5 trillion deficit reduction goal that the Committee has been charged
with and includes major reforms of entitlement programs and the tax code is
necessary to bring the debt down to a manageable and sustainable level,
improve the long-term fiscal imbalance, reassure markets, and restore
Americans’ faith in the political system. e all agree that a large-scale,
multi-year debt stabilization package is necessary to deal with the fiscal
challenges facing the nation.”

The letter comes as the Super Committee looks to hold its first public
hearing tomorrow.

“The target for the Super Committee just isn’t big enough – it won’t be
enough to stabilize the debt; it won’t be enough to restore confidence; it
won’t be enough to ease the markets. We need to put a full fix in place that
sets us on a manageable path,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at the New America
Foundation. “Judging by the names on this letter – former heads of CBO,
OMB, CEA, NEC, the Treasury, former Members, experts in the policy
world, big name business leaders, and more – you have to believe this
message will be heard. If this letter proves anything it’s that the support for
actually dealing with our fiscal problems is there – it’s time to go big!”


http://crfb.org/sites/default/files/over60urgesupercommitteetogobig.pdf


--------------------------------------------

Letter From Over 60 Business Leaders, Former Government Officials, and Experts Urging Super Committee to Go Big

September 12, 2011

The Honorable Jeb Hensarling The Honorable Patty Murray
Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction Deficit Reduction
129 Cannon House Office Building 448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

Dear Representative Hensarling, Senator Murray, and Members of the Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction,

As you begin your important work to reach a deficit reduction agreement, we urge you to “go
big” and develop a large-scale debt reduction package sufficient to stabilize the debt as a share of
the economy.

We believe that a go big approach that goes well beyond the $1.5 trillion deficit reduction goal
that the Committee has been charged with and includes major reforms of entitlement programs
and the tax code is necessary to bring the debt down to a manageable and sustainable level,
improve the long-term fiscal imbalance, reassure markets, and restore Americans’ faith in the
political system.

While we have differences of opinion about the specific policies that should be included in any
plan, we all agree that a large-scale, multi-year debt stabilization package is necessary to deal
with the fiscal challenges facing the nation.

Sincerely,

Barry Anderson
Former Acting Director, Congressional
Budget Office
The Honorable Roger Altman
Founder and Chairman, Evercore Partners
Joe Antos
Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care
and Retirement Policy, American Enterprise
Institute
Bob Bixby
Executive Director, Concord Coalition
Erskine Bowles
Former Co-Chair, National Commission on
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The Honorable Charles Bowsher
Former Comptroller General of the United
States
The Honorable William Brock
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable John E. Chapoton
Former Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy,
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Dave Cote
Former Member, National Commission on
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; Chairman
and CEO, Honeywell International
Pete Davis
President, Davis Capital Investment Ideas
The Honorable Peter Domenici
Former Member of Congress
John Endean
President, American Business Conference
The Honorable Vic Fazio
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable Martin Feldstein
Former Chairman, Council of Economic
Advisers
The Honorable William Frenzel
Former Ranking Member, House Budget
Committee; Co-Chair, Committee for a
Responsible Federal Budget
Ann Fudge
Former Member, National Commission on
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; Former
CEO, Young & Rubicam Brands
William G. Gale
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
William A. Galston
Senior Fellow and Ezra K. Zilkha Chair,
Brookings Institution
The Honorable Bill Gradison
Former Ranking Member, House Budget
Committee
The Honorable Judd Gregg
Former Chairman, Senate Budget
Committee
Ron Haskins
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Kevin Hassett
Senior Fellow and Director of Economic
Policy Studies, American Enterprise
Institute
G. William Hoagland
Former Staff Director, Senate Budget
Committee
The Honorable Glenn Hubbard
Former Chairman, Council of Economic
Advisers; Dean, Columbia Business School
The Honorable Bob Kerrey
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable Charles E.M. Kolb
President, Committee for Economic
Development
The Honorable Jim Kolbe
Former Member of Congress
Lawrence B. Lindsey
President and CEO, The Lindsey Group;
Former Director, National Economic
Council
Maya MacGuineas
President, Committee for a Responsible
Federal Budget
The Honorable N. Gregory Mankiw
Former Chairman, Council of Economic
Advisers
Donald Marron
Director, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy
Center; Former Acting Director,
Congressional Budget Office
William Marshall
President, Progressive Policy Institute
The Honorable James T. McIntyre, Jr.
Former Director, Office of Management and
Budget
Olivia S. Mitchell
Economist
The Honorable Jim Nussle
Former Director, Office of Management and
Budget; Former Chairman, House
Budget Committee; Co-Chair, Committee
for a Responsible Federal Budget
The Honorable Paul O’Neill
Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of
the Treasury
Marne Obernauer, Jr.
Chairman, Beverage Distributors Company
Rudolph G. Penner
Former Director, Congressional Budget
Office
The Honorable Timothy Penny
Former Member of Congress; Co-Chair,
Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget
The Honorable Peter G. Peterson
Founder and Chairman, Peter G. Peterson
Foundation; Former Secretary, Department
of Commerce
The Honorable Alice Rivlin
Former Director, Congressional Budget
Office; Former Director, Office of
Management and Budget; Former Member,
National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform
The Honorable Charles Robb
Former Member of Congress
Diane Lim Rogers
Chief Economist, Concord Coalition
The Honorable Christina Romer
Former Chairwoman, Council of Economic
Advisers
The Honorable Robert E. Rubin
Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of
the Treasury
The Honorable Martin Sabo
Former Chairman, House Budget
Committee
Isabel V. Sawhill
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Allen Schick
Distinguished University Professor,
University of Maryland
Daniel N. Shaviro
Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation, New
York University School of Law
The Honorable George P. Shultz
Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of
the Treasury; Former Secretary of the U.S.
Department of State; Former Secretary of
the U.S. Department of Labor
The Honorable Alan K. Simpson
Former Member of Congress; Co-Chair,
National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform
Kent Smetters
Boettner Professor of Business and Public
Policy, The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania
The Honorable Charlie Stenholm
Former Member of Congress; Co-Chair,
Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget
C. Eugene Steuerle
Institute Fellow and Richard B. Fisher
Chair, Urban Institute
The Honorable John Tanner
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable Laura D. Tyson
Former Chairwoman, Council of Economic
Advisers; Former Director, National
Economic Council
The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman
Former Governor of New Jersey
The Honorable George Voinovich
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable Paul Volcker
Former Chairman, Federal Reserve System
Carol Cox Wait
Former President, Committee for a
Responsible Federal Budget
The Honorable David M. Walker
Former Comptroller General of the United
States
The Honorable John Vincent Weber
Former Member of Congress
The Honorable Murray L.
Weidenbaum
Former Chairman, Council of Economic
Advisers
The Honorable Joseph R. Wright, Jr.
Former Director, Office of Management and
Budget
Mark Zandi
Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics

http://crfb.org/sites/default/files/gobigletter_0.pdf

[Stinky The Clown]

1. The message from this group to America's seniors and weakest: "Die Motherfuckers!"

No one wants to take care of your weak and aged asses. So just fucking hurry up and die.

[Bluebear]

2. Eat your peas and die! Fired up!

[Dawson Leery]

3. Translation: Keep taxes on the top 1% low and "borrow"

from Social Security and Medicare to pay for the budget.

[Poll_Blind]

4. They ask the age old question: "If we don't kill our seniors...who will?!"

PB

[DJ13]

5. Im glad all the 'serious people' who would hurt the bottom 90% put there names out there

They're getting arrogant.

[frazzled]

6. No, the article doesn't say go big on program cuts.

It says go big on ( long-term) deficit reduction--that can mean go big on tax hikes as much as cuts. And that is exactly what the President proposed today: eliminating deductions over a cap for high-income Americans; not letting hedge-fund managers claim their income as capital gains but rather count it as real taxable income--those two things alone will reduce the deficit by $450B.

Nice try at skewing the conversation. Or maybe you just don't understand that deficit reduction doesn't mean all cuts but also increased revenues.

[Better Believe It]

7. You're right! This outfit just wants to tax the rich and is opposed to "entitlement" cuts.

Thanks for the correction.

We can all rest easy now folks.

Move along now .... nothing to see here.

Just some outstanding business people and politicians trying to help working people and balance the budget on the backs of millionaires, billionaires and Wall Street.

Once again, thanks for the info "frazzled".

[frazzled]

11. No, it's conflating what these signatories may want ...

which the article says they explicitly did not detail ... and what this administration is going to propose.

President Obama did not lead these guys, which the original lede and your headline suggest. His name is not on that list. He's consistently said that there have to be equal amounts of revenues and cuts. This group may differ (though again, they say they are not prescribing how this should be done ... just an amount.)

Once again, thanks for the imaginary boogeymen, BBI.

[Better Believe It]

12. "thanks for the imaginary boogeymen" Right. Nothing to see here. Move along folks.

All is well .... just imaginary boogeymen.

"He's consistently said that there have to be equal amounts of revenues and cuts."

And how has that worked out in real life so far?

Don't mistake political rhetoric for actual deeds.

[provis99]

10. are you a clown in real life?

[tblue37]

8. End the wars and cut the defense budget and the Homeland Security boondogles. nt

[markpkessinger]

9. Sssh! Don't disturb the ongoing ostrich demonstration! n/t

[woo me with science]

13. Third Way agenda. nt

[xchrom]

14. recommend