A Toothless Commission On Spending Is No Substitute for True Leadership
Kathryn Nix /
The recent debt limit increase passed by Congress has sparked a national debate on how to adequately reverse out-of-control federal spending. After much congressional hand-wringing recently over what budget process reform to attach to the must-pass increase in the debt ceiling, support for a bipartisan commission crafted by Senate Budget Committee leaders Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) crumbled. Lawmakers realized that the framing of the commission would most likely lead to tax increases with little real spending restraint with the same back-room deals of which Americans have become weary.
Just this morning, the President signed an executive order creating the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which will operate similarly to the failed Conrad-Greg proposal except that it would be set up by the White House rather than by statute. The goal of the commission is to balance the budget, excluding interest payments, by 2015. The commission will also be expected to make recommendations regarding entitlement reform in order to rein long-term deficits.