Obama To Appoint Deficit Panel With Or Without Congressional Support

WASHINGTON — Determined to have a deficit commission with or without Congress' backing, President Barack Obama plans to announce on Thursday that he is establishing a panel similar to – although weaker than_ the one lawmakers rejected.

Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson would lead the panel, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the president's executive order creating the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform had not been announced.

The deficit spiked to an extraordinary $1.4 trillion last year and could top that figure this year as the struggling economy puts a big dent in tax revenues. Even worse from the perspective of economists and deficit hawks, the medium-term deficit picture is for deficits to hit around $1 trillion a year for the foreseeable future.

Obama and his economic team have said repeatedly that this is not sustainable. He told lawmakers during his State of the Union address that he would go around their vote and appoint a version of a deficit commission.

Obama's version of the commission is a weak substitute for what he really wanted: a panel created by Congress that could force lawmakers to consider unpopular remedies to reduce the debt, including curbing politically sensitive entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.

As rejected, the bipartisan 18-member panel would have worked for much of the year and, if 14 members agree, report a deficit reduction blueprint after the November elections that would be voted on before the new Congress convenes next year. The 14 would have to include at least half of the panel's Republicans.

That idea crashed in the Senate, defeated by equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans – some of whom initially supported the idea.

Although Obama's commission will lack any requirement for Congress to act on its advice, it will provide some political cover and big-name backing.

Bowles, the president of the University of North Carolina, served as Democratic President Bill Clinton's chief of staff from 1996 to 1998. Simpson, a senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997, was the No. 2 Republican and the top GOP member of the Social Security subcommittee.

Obama planned to announce the plan on Thursday before he heads west for political events in Colorado and Nevada.

Comments

[rougebaisers]

05:15 PM on 02/17/2010

Everyone needs to be kicked out of Washington. Everyone on Wall St. needs to be put behind bars.

[jcaunter]

04:57 PM on 02/17/2010

There is near 100% certainty that Obama wants to cut Medicare and Social Security, and that he wants a "bipartisan committee" to recommend it before it does it.

Let me be clear: Obama wants and expects whatever commission he creates to recommend entitlement cuts, and they WILL DO IT.

This is all political theater to prop up his wealthy friends. When he wants something done, he acts decisively and harshly to get it done--immediately. See how hard he came out for the Wall Street bailout and how many arms he twisted to get Bernanke reconfirmed. When he doesn't want something done, he dithers and he dallies, and then he speaks calm platitudes and calls for bipartisanship. MARK MY WORDS: this is all an elaborate ruse to lend credibility to his Social Security cuts when eventually get around to doing it.

*******************

Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks was paid a visit by four senior administration officials and in March wrote:

"...the long-range debt is what matters, and on this subject President Obama is hawkish.

He is extremely committed to entitlement reform and is plotting politically feasible ways to reduce Social Security as well as health spending.

[Guitanguran]

10:32 PM on 02/17/2010

"This is all political theater to prop up his wealthy friends."

So this scheme of cutting Social Security is propping up wealthy people by...?

[Skellen]

02:31 PM on 02/17/2010

Unless they look at defense spending as well then this is just going to result in cuts to medicare, medicaid, social security.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:54 PM on 02/17/2010

The more moves like this the better. Get the job DONE Mr. President. We need your leadership. Please represent the majority, not the minority who we elected out, and for good reason.

[DavidShort]

12:46 PM on 02/17/2010

There are 2 ways to look at this announcement.

1) With the current spending levels of the Congress, something (anything) needs to be done to reign in the level of irresponsibility that pervades this body. This is not unique to the Obama Administration, it has been going on for over 80 years now. This type of panel could objectively analyze the budget, and propose areas to cut or at least whittle down their costs. Some of those areas could be our participation in the UN, others could be appointing Fraud Waste, and Abuse investigations into each department. Or,

2) The government has so mismanaged the funds they have, any action to scale back would meet with incredible backlash across the spectrum, so this has been created to provide overhead cover, politically. In other words, a built in scapegoat. "I don't really want to cut this program, but the Deficit Panel says we have no choice."

The problem with the budget is they spend too much money. Then they turn around and confiscate too much of our money to fund that spending. It has been that way since Wilson, and every administration since has followed that trend. We need to stop it now, and this could be a useful tool to move us in that direction.

[MaryMay]

12:40 PM on 02/17/2010

What's the point of establishing a panel that has no teeth?

"Although Obama's commission will lack any requirement for Congress to act on its advice, it will provide some political cover and big-name backing."

How much are those on this toothless panel being paid?

And hey, HP, what's with all the unflattering photos of our President? I know he can't be smiling all the time, and sure he looks perturbed at times (deservedly so), but you seem to be going out of your way to publish downright unattractive photos of this attractive man.

[Australian2]

12:21 PM on 02/17/2010

So tell me, why are REpublicans trying to have their cake and eat it too?

They're screaming about deficits, whilst at the same time refusing to appoint a deficit reduction commission which would have any teeth. I wonder why - perhaps it has something to do with the earmarks and corporate subsidies which would go by the board?

[mrspiffy]

10:59 AM on 02/17/2010

Its a start.

http://yieldpig.blogspot.com/

[JimR]

12:25 PM on 02/17/2010

Is it? Or is it just a smokescreen to make it look like he's tackling the deficit?

[lvdragonlady]

10:58 AM on 02/17/2010

Go for it Mr. President. If Congress will not back you on what you are trying to do then by pass them and go for that brass ring. WE need change whether Congress likes it or not.

[sunshine14]

09:35 AM on 02/17/2010

Maybe now with commission Pres will put on line, on the web, where every dollar went on and not paid for in the $8 Trillion dollar deficit from last administration. Total of Tax cuts for 10 years? Pharma bill? Plus the last budget carry over $1.3 Trillion dollars is for every $ dollar....also. Just like the Stimulus Package is.

[Tuckerndfw]

09:08 AM on 02/17/2010

Just more worthless pandering by a worthless president.

Maybe he should appoint a tax czar to oversee taxes. (major sarcasm intended)

Obama wastes more time & money showboating for Obamabots than he does anything else.

[kokokahi]

08:31 AM on 02/17/2010

It was former President-NAFTA- Clinton who sold us out to China. They are reaping what he sowed.

[mahckz]

08:30 AM on 02/17/2010

Oh, a deficit panel. I feel so much better now. He has everything under control.

[Patriotallday]

07:42 AM on 02/17/2010

We elect politicians to run our country so why is Obama wanting a "deficit panel" ? How much more taxpayer money is this group and all their supporting staff going to cost? THIS is the reason we are so far into debt ! A grade school kid can tell you the answer is to stop spending money you don't have if you don't want to end up bankrupt. No to this new "panel" and NO to Obama spending more money that we have to borrow to begin with. This guy still doesn't get it.

[holyghostie]

07:42 AM on 02/17/2010

Obama should do this on his own if he has too. He already wasted one year of his term waiting for the GOP to play nice. Ain't gonna happen.

He and congress should propose GOP ideas that are good for the country, and make them vote against them. We have to get things passed and the country moving forward even if they are small steps.