For as long as anyone can remember -- because I'm selling "bathtub Lunesta" out of the back of a truck to help people forget -- Washington has been in a deep turmoil over the deficit and what to do about it (that excludes solutions like "ending wars" and "rolling back Bush-era tax cuts"). The Gregg-Conrad Debt Commission never got off the ground. The Simpson-Bowles Debt Commission couldn't vote on a plan. Paul Ryan's deficit plan is getting shouted at in town halls. Obama's deficit plan is being called "too little, too late." It rained on the day the Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled its deficit plan, so Dana Milbank says it doesn't count. Meanwhile, Americans are basically wondering why lawmakers are even focused on this issue, seeing as how they are all unemployed.
But hope has a new name: The Joe Biden Deficit Task Force. (This will premiere on CBS and eventually spin off Joe Biden Deficit Task Force: Miami Nights.) I can just tell your soul is beginning to stir, so let's check in with the Washington Post's Paul Kane to see how it's all going:
A congressional task force launched by President Obama last week to help cut the federal deficit is off to a rocky start, with some members complaining that the agenda is destined to provide political theater, not a sweeping rewrite of spending and tax policy.
Set to begin discussions May 5, members already hit a dispute this week, disagreeing over how many people should have seats at the table. Some are asking what's the point of meeting at all.
I am pretty sure that the "point" is to create "activity" and pass it off as "achievement." I'm really surprised when I meet people who read about the federal government and yet haven't figured this out by now.
At any rate, the reviews are in and they are bipartisan:
"I'm at a loss to understand what the purpose is."
--House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)"Well, I guess we'll have to ask the vice president the answer to that question [of whether or not this whole thing is just 'a diversion while an agreement is quietly negotiated elsewhere.'] The jury's still out,""
--Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Of course, all is not lost! There's another game in town: the Gang Of Six, who "could propose, possibly next month, a plan that includes deeper entitlement cuts than Democrats have ever supported and tax increases that previously have been anathema for Republicans."
So there you have it. The Gang Of Six will finish with a non-starter, and the Biden Task Force is a non-finisher that can't get started. Eventually, the deficit program will be solved by the same means we use to "solve" all of our problems -- robot drones that are armed with missiles.
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Biden deficit task force off to rocky start [Washington Post]
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