Fiscal Commission

FAIL: Fiscal Commission Adjourns Without Holding Official Vote

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2010, 11:12AM

The 18-Member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Sept. 29th, 2010

After weeks of tumultuous negotiations, the White House's fiscal commission adjourned today without agreement on a controversial plan to reduce deficits by slashing spending and lowering income tax rates.

Recognizing that they'd fail to meet the 14-vote threshold for passage, the 18-member commission ultimately did not take a final vote. However, members announced their positions ahead of today's final meeting, and in the end a majority -- according to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), 11 in total -- claimed to support the proposal.

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Fiscal Commission

Fiscal Commission's Plan Won't Have Votes To Head To Senate

Megan Carpentier | December 3, 2010, 9:26AM

Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY).

The fiscal commission, which already delayed its vote by two days due to internal conflicts, will fail to get the required 14 votes needed to send its report to Congress.

Former SEIU President Andy Stern is the fifth member of the 18-person panel to announce his opposition to the report, making reaching the required supermajority impossible. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) are also opposed.

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Paul Ryan

Republican Paul Ryan Opposes White House Fiscal Commission Plan

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 10:42AM

Paul Ryan

Incoming Budget Committee chairman -- and fiscal commission member -- Paul Ryan (R-WI) will not be voting for the White House Fiscal Commission's report, he told reporters at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor today.

"Obviously I'm not going to vote for it," Ryan said. "I think I pretty much telegraphed that."

Ryan was at pains to praise the commission's chairmen, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, for their efforts, but ultimately criticized the plan dramatically -- in particular, he says, because it reinforces President Obama's health care law.

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Fiscal Commission

'Moment Of Truth'? Fiscal Commission Unveils Final Report

Brian Beutler | December 1, 2010, 9:41AM

The 18-Member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Sept. 29th, 2010

Below is a copy of the White House Fiscal Commission's final report, somewhat hilariously titled "Moment of Truth."

According to the panel's chairmen yesterday, today's deficit-reduction recommendations aren't dramatically different from those in their much-ballyhooed draft report: It still contains cuts to Social Security, and eliminates tax expenditures to broaden the tax base and dramatically flatten the system, making the top-bracket tax rates drop dramatically.

The commission was supposed to vote on a final package today, per the executive order President Obama signed when he created the commission. But dissent on the commission delayed the unveiling of these recommendations, so the vote will happen Friday.

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