Deficit Commission on Huffington Post

Dean Baker: Deficit Reduction: The Great Distraction

2012-05-14T21:18:07Z

When we hear Erskine Bowles and his friends rant about the deficit this week, we should remember that once again they are distracting the public from the country's real problems. And this crew is at the center of those problems; it is not the solution.

Read more: Deficit, Deficit Commission, Social Security, Erskine Bowles, Peter Peterson, Budget, Simpson-Bowles, Tax Cuts, Deficit Reduction, Business News

Richard (RJ) Eskow: The Bowles-Simpson Medicine Show Is Back in Town

2012-03-29T20:54:52Z

As soon as one pitch ends, another begins. So this ain't over, folks, because every good medicine-show pitchman knows: You gotta keep on offering the crowd that "grand bargain" until you wear 'em down and they buy it.

Read more: Deficit Commission, Alan Simpson, Jim Cooper, Erskine Bowles, Bowles-Simpson Rejected, Bowles-Simpson, Bowles-Simpson-Plan, Politics News

Jared Bernstein: Talking Point Alert!

2012-02-15T13:47:05Z

Sometimes you just get the feeling that the various people with whom you're arguing all got together a few days ago and agreed on a talking point. In almost every single debate I've had regarding the president's budget plan, when confronted with the fact that they have thus far refused to accept new tax revenues as part of a deal for deficit reduction, conservatives cry foul. To the contrary, they cry. They'd be happy with far more revenue than the $1.5 trillion called for in the president's budget. But it must come from "lowering the rates and broadening the base." So let's explore exactly what this means.

Read more: Obama Budget Cuts, Deficit Reduction, Deficit, Obama Budget, Deficit Commission, Simpson-Bowles, Obama Budget Proposal, Barack Obama, Politics News

Surya Yalamanchili: What the Supercommittee Really Said

2011-11-23T16:29:47Z

See -- we're not that stupid. Wait. Maybe that should be the new slogan: "Congress -- we're not that stupid."

Read more: Deficit Commission, Federal Budget Deficit, Super Committee Cuts, Congress Super Committee, Barack Obama Deficit, Economy Congress Deficit, Deficit Super Committee, Super Committee Comedy, Economy Jobs Congress, Comedy, Politics News

Joanne Bamberger: Americans' Advice to the Super Committee

2011-11-22T11:44:12Z

So here we are, after both sides cried "uncle" on this effort, with automatic spending cuts ready to go into effect that will begin the process of slashing $1.2 trillion dollars from the budget -- cuts that neither side wants.

Read more: Politics, Super Committee, Debt Ceiling, Economy, Thanksgiving, Deficit Commission, Democrats, Debt Super Committee, Republicans, Politics News

Bill George: A Fateful Weekend for U.S. Fiscal Stability

2011-11-22T10:32:25Z

The fate of the fiscal stability of the United States was sealed on the weekend of December 4-5, 2010.

Read more: White House, Obama Deficit Reduction, Congress, Standard & Poor's, Supercommittee, Deficit Commission, Democrats, House Republicans, Obama White House, Deficit, National Debt, Erskine Bowles, Federal Budget Deficit, Simpson-Bowles, House Democrats, Financial Crisis, Alan Simpson, Deficit Supercommittee, Politics News

Amid Failure, Lawmakers Scramble To Avoid Super Committee Triggers

2011-11-21T09:10:08Z

WASHINGTON — Don't look for the Pentagon to shut down one side of its famous five-sided building. Don't expect the Education Department to pull ...

Read more: Supercommittee Triggers, Medicare Cuts, Super Committee Deadline, Video, John McCain, Super Committee, Supercommittee Deadline, Supercommittee Fails, Super Committee Triggers, Supercommittee, Super Committee Automatic Cuts, Lindsey Graham, Deficit Commission, Defense Cuts, Super Committee Fail, Politics News

Deficit-Cutting Committee Reaches Deadline

2011-11-21T08:52:05Z

WASHINGTON — Congress' supercommittee conceded ignominious defeat Monday in its quest to conquer a government debt that stands at a staggering $...

Read more: Taxes, Debt, Super Committee Deadline, Patty Murray, Payroll Tax Cut, Supercommittee, Deficit Reduction, Deficit Commission, Payroll Tax, Medicare Cuts, Deficit, Video, Super Committee, Supercommittee Deadline, Medicare, Jeb Hensarling, Super Committee Fails, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Politics News

Behind The Bipartisan 'Austerity Class' That Rules Washington

2011-10-20T12:35:45Z

In September the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a bipartisan deficit-hawk group based at the New America Foundation, held a high-p...

Read more: Simpson-Bowles Commission, Congress, Kent Conrad, Jobs, Deficit Reduction, Austerity Class, Pete Peterson, Gang of Six, Peter Orszag, Peterson, Deficit Commission, Austerity, Robert Rubin, Deficit, Unemployment, Simpson-Bowles, David Brooks, Rubin, Tom Friedman, Politics News

Martha Burk: Congress Should Puncture This Cartel

2011-09-29T20:46:26Z

Congress exempted Group Purchasing Organizations from anti-kickback statutes in the 1980s, in what critics say was a direct violation of anti-trust law. In the past three decades there has been no serious effort to correct this gross fleecing of patients and taxpayers.

Read more: Congress, Group Purchasing Organization, Gpo, Contagion, Needlestick, Deficit Commission, Puncture, Deficit Supercommittee, Hypodermic Needle, Politics News

LISTEN: Congresswoman Says 'You Don't Deserve To Keep All' Of Your Money

2011-09-15T13:33:26Z

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has drawn the ire of a number of conservative bloggers after comments she made about taxes on WLS Chicago's Don ...

Read more: Taxes, Deficit, Jan Schakowsky, Don Wade, Don Wade and Roma, Tax Rate, Deficit Commission, House Deficit Commission, Jan Schakowsky Tax, Millionaire Tax, Paul Ryan, Video, Chicago News

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Killing Us Softly

2011-09-14T00:19:02Z

We're seeing the demonization of the victim everywhere. It's in the public hatred for underwater homeowners and now reaches to the highest halls of power in both parties, where we told that helping struggling homeowners would be "rewarding the undeseverving."

Read more: Robert Rubin, Medicare Retirement Age, Alice Rivlin, Alan Simpson, Austerity Economics, Go Big Letter, Erskine Bowles, Laura Tyson, Deficit Commission, Politics News

Nancy Pelosi: Dems Will Be Forceful On Super Committee But Won't Draw 'Lines In The Sand'

2011-08-04T12:49:05Z

WASHINGTON -- Frustration on and off the Hill is mounting for Democrats who are worried that the newly created debt reduction "super committee" will e...

Read more: Super Congress, Pelosi Super Congress, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi Debt Commission, Debt Deal, Pelosi Deficit Commission, Nancy Pelosi Deficit Commission, Debt Deal Super Congress, Nancy Pelosi Super Congress, Deficit Commission, Super Congress Debt Deal, Debt Commission, Pelosi Debt Commission, Politics News

Jim Neal: Where's the Secretary of Poverty?

2011-07-31T10:12:46Z

Poverty in America is the most corrosive of the wars we're losing but never mention. Poverty is not merely offensive to the human condition, it is also the enemy of economic and civil stability in America.

Read more: Tavis Smiley, Jim Neal, Cornel West, University of North Carolina, Debt Ceiling, Budget Cuts, US Poverty, Deficit Commission, Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Social Earth, Deficit, Child Poverty, Social Entrepreneurship, John Edwards, Lbj, James H. Johnson Jr., James Leloudis, Jumo, Volunteer Match, Robert Kennedy, North Carolina, Politics News

Dean Baker: President Obama Doesn't Understand the Origins of the Deficit

2011-07-27T16:26:58Z

The government's deficits were very much containable until the collapse of the housing bubble sank the economy. It was the economic collapse that gave us large deficits.

Read more: Deficit, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Budget, Housing Market, Federal Deficit, Deficit Commission, Housing Bubble, Housing Crisis, Debt Ceiling Crisis, Business News

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Deficit Hysteria: Washington's War on the Young

2011-06-22T10:16:51Z

The inevitable result of austerity economics would be a plan to hand the next generation a nation with crumbling infrastructure, collapsing government services, and bleak economic prospects. It's an all-out assault on the future of the young.

Read more: Medicare, Deficit Commission, Alan Simpson, Austerity Economics, Social Security, Erskine Bowles, Politics News

AARP's Social Security Debt Ceiling Fears

2011-06-21T15:14:53Z

WASHINGTON -- For defenders of the Social Security Act's old-age retirement insurance program, news that the most powerful lobbying force for older Am...

Read more: Retirement Benefits, Social Security, Debt Ceiling, Social Security Retirement Age, Retirement, Aarp, Budget Deficit, Deficit Commission, Politics News

Sen. Mark Warner Receives Big Contributions From JPMorgan During Deficit Talks

2011-06-16T17:40:00Z

WASHINGTON -- During the first three months of 2011 employees of JPMorgan Chase piled in campaign contributions to the campaign committee of Sen. Mark...

Read more: Debt, Deficit, JPMorgan Chase, Carried Interest, Mark Warner, 112th Congress, Gang of Six, Capital Gains, Deficit Commission, Campaign Finance, Politics News

Leo Hindery, Jr.: The "Debt Ceiling" Versus "Jobs Creation" Debate: Not the Time for a Mistake

2011-06-07T09:30:16Z

It's important for the Obama White House, the 'Biden Group' and Democrats on Capitol Hill to stand firm for a budget deal that meets the demands of the middle class.

Read more: Christina Romer, Deficit Commission, Unemployment, Federal Budget Deficit, Debt Ceiling, Paul Ryan Budget, Politics News

Dave Johnson: At the Deficit Table: Wingnuts, Wall Street & Wealthy But Not Women & Working People

2011-05-24T19:42:28Z

In DC the elite are gathered around tables discussing budget cuts, but not jobs to cure a deficit largely caused by a lack of jobs and tax cuts. Not at the table: women, working people, the poor or any semblance of democracy.

Read more: Deficit, U.S. Unemployment, Deficit Commission, Unemployment, Federal Budget Deficit, u.s. Jobs, Unemployement-Stories, Politics News

Sen. Tom Carper: The U.S. Must Learn How to Spend Smarter

2011-05-12T12:42:07Z

Making across-the-board cuts to government programs to lower the deficit is tempting, but it won't foster the economic growth needed to realize our deficit reduction goals.

Read more: Deficit Reduction, Deficit Commission, Federal Budget Deficit, Tom Carper, Politics News

WATCH: Alan Simpson Attacks Social Security, AARP

2011-05-06T17:19:31Z

WASHINGTON -- Alan Simpson’s cold relationship with AARP is no secret, but the former Republican Senator from Wyoming took it to a new level Friday....

Read more: Video, Social Security, Erskine Bowles, Investment Company Institute, Aarp, Obscene Gesture, Alan Simpson, Deficit Commission, Politics News

Obama Won't Fully Use Power Of Feds To Lower Medicare Drug Prices For Seniors

2011-04-14T16:07:21Z

WASHINGTON -- In laying out his framework to cut the deficit, President Obama appears to have abandoned a campaign promise he reneged on last year in...

Read more: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs, Federal Budget Deficit, Prescription-Drug-Prices, PhRMA Lobby, Health Care Reform, Prescription Drugs, Deficit Commission, Medicare, Veterans, Politics News

Lanny Davis: It's Sink or Swim Together

2011-04-13T15:02:12Z

Both American political parties must know that you cannot seriously reduce the debt and balance budgets without taking on Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements head-on, as does Simpson-Bowles.

Read more: Deficit, Erskine Bowles, National Debt, Federal Budget Deficit, Budget, Alan Simpson, Deficit Commission, Politics News

Gary Shapiro: Why Do Unions Want to Hurt Job Creators?

2011-04-07T14:36:20Z

Why do unions oppose repatriation, a proposal to allow a lower tax rate for a defined time period for U.S. companies seeking to bring money earned overseas back into the country, as a solution to stimulate the economy?

Read more: Taxes, Repatriation, Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro, Deficit, Leo Gerard, Erskine Bowles, Afl-Cio, The Comeback, Deficit Commission, Richard Trumka, Unions, Business News