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14 Apr 2011 14:15

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Politics: Deficit commission heads endorse Obama’s plan

  • yesterday The budget plan pitched by the President Obama in his big speech was very similar to the proposal advanced by his bipartisan deficit reduction commission, under Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson.
  • today Bowles and Simpson met with the President earlier today, and after their meeting, the dynamic duo endorsed his twelve-year, $4 trillion reduction plan (their plan called for $4 trillion over just ten years). source

02 Dec 2010 21:52

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Politics: Deficit committee may not have needed votes by tomorrow

  • Our debt crisis is a threat not just to our way of life but to our national survival. And the threat that we face is so real and so close that we do not have further time for gridlock or inaction. It’s necessary that we take strong, aggressive action now.
  • Idaho Sen. (and deficit committee member) Mike Crapo • Revealing that he, along with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, would be voting in favor of the deficit committee’s proposal Friday. That means that, along with retiring Sen. Judd Gregg, three Republicans would be voting to send the proposal for a vote in Congress. Problem is, that brings the grand total up to around nine votes. Fourteen of the nineteen members need to vote yes. At least three other  Republicans (including our boy Paul Ryan) and one Democrat (Max Baucus) will vote against it. But that may not matter, according to committee co-chairman Alan Simpson. “Whether we get two votes or 18, this baby ain’t goin’ away,” he said. He’s right; the ideas will remain no matter what happens. source

01 Dec 2010 10:39

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Politics: Deficit Panel’s final findings: Mostly the same as the draft

These guys have offered up a plan that, among other things, would cut 200,000 federal jobs and trim defense spending. But will Congress go for it? source

30 Nov 2010 20:23

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Politics: Obama’s bipartisan deficit panel not currently seeing eye-to-eye

  • 18 number of members of the Obama’s bipartisan deficit panel
  • 14 number of votes the panel needs to send their findings to Congress
  • no they don’t have 14 votes yet, but they hope they will by Friday source

10 Nov 2010 21:34

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U.S.: Obama’s fiscal commission: Cut defense spending, lose the contractors

  • $4 billion in deficit cuts proposed over the next freaking decade
  • $3T the cost to keep the Bush tax cuts for households that make under $250,000 over the next decade
  • 3/4ths of the proposed cuts would be from the Defense Department; the rest would be from tax revenues
  • 250k number of contractors whose jobs would be eliminated under the proposal, saving $18.4 billion source
  • » How will Congress adopt these ideas? Don’t expect a wholesale adoption of these ideas pushed forward by a bipartisan team of Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, but the ideas will definitely push Congress in a fiscally mindful direction.

26 Aug 2010 18:43

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Politics: Alan Simpson compares Social Security to a really big milking cow

  • We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!
  • Former Sen. Alan Simpson • In a letter to Ashley B. Carson, the executive director of the National Older Women’s League, or OWL, on Social Security. Simpson, a member of Obama’s fiscal commission, is facing a lot of calls for resignation over the comment, which is probably the dumbest thing one could say politically, considering that it’s kinda sexist. Simpson, by the way, is on the front lines trying to protect Social Security’s long-term solvency, so it’s probably good to note that this shouldn’t be taken out of context. But still. Wow. source

17 Mar 2010 21:51

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Politics: Alan Simpson’s leading Obama on a trail to deficit-cutting

  • “Here guys, a balanced budget is this way.” They don’t make Republicans like Alan Simpson anymore. The former Senator isn’t anti-tax if it means cutting the deficit down. (Sample quote: “Go ahead, keep babbling into the vapors. I’m not out to raise taxes but, for God’s sake, if these dizzy guys can’t figure out that this country…”) And right now, he’s got a job as co-chairman of President Obama’s bipartisan federal debt commission. The guy behind him is Erskine B. Bowles. The guy behind Erskine is Obama. And behind him is Joe Biden. They’re about to do a cakewalk. It should be fun. source