Debt Commission Convenes First Meeting

At a three-hour White House meeting on Tuesday, debt commission members began discussions to move toward meeting the goal of the commission: bring the deficit down to about 3 percent of the gross domestic product by FY 2015 and begin to slow the long-term growth in the national debt. The panel, as outlined in a February executive order, is supposed to send recommendations to Congress on December 1; however, that requires 14 of the 18 commissioners to approve the package. The panel is made up of 10 Democrats and eight Republicans. Obama selected the co-chairmen and four other members; congressional Democratic and Republican leaders picked members of Congress to serve.

Democrats are concerned that social safety net programs will be targeted for savings, Republican lawmakers and conservative groups including Americans for Tax Reform contend that tax increases should not be part of the panel’s deliberations.

“The reality is that the Congress, the administration and the American people will have to choose among making modifications to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, restraining federal spending on everything else, accepting higher taxes, or some combination thereof,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Obama and the commission’s co-chairmen — former Senator Alan Simpson, (R-WY) and Erskine Bowles, a White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton — emphasized that every option for reducing deficits and controlling the long-term growth in debt should be considered. Obama said he would not heed calls to rule out some proposals from the outset.