Obama to create fiscal commission Thursday

[spanone]

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will sign an executive order Thursday setting up a bipartisan fiscal commission to weigh proposals aimed at reining in the soaring federal debt, according to a White House official.

The official, who requested anonymity because the president had not yet made the announcement, said the co-chairs of the commission will be Democrat Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton; and Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming.

It will be officially titled the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

In his weekly radio and Internet address this past Saturday, Obama touted the commission as the best way to attain "long-term deficit reduction" at a time when Congress seems paralyzed to come together on the mix of spending cuts and tax increases that will likely be needed to balance the nation's budget.

"In the end, solving our fiscal challenge -- so many years in the making -- will take both parties coming together, putting politics aside, and making some hard choices about what we need to spend, and what we don't," Obama said Saturday. "It will not happen any other way."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/16/obama.fiscal.panel/index.html?hpt=T1

[msongs]

1. skip the phony PR stunt and cut the military budget by, say, 50% nt

[Foo Fighter]

8. Right on.

Getting rid of tax loopholes for the rich and the corporations would also be a big help.

[Karmadillo]

2. Hard choices? A 50% cut in the Pentagon budget would be a hard choice.

nt

[Foo Fighter]

3. Isn't this pretty much the same type of commission the Senate voted down?

So Obama is doing an end-around and going the executive order route. Gee, where have I seen this before?

I can't wait to see what recommendations the commission comes up with. No doubt the budget will be balanced on the backs of the poor and working class while the rich get tax cuts and tax credits to "encourage investment and spur economic growth." I have the feeling this will not end well at all. Well, at least not for those of us that aren't in the top 1%.

[inna]

19. Exactly. I can't wait to see what they will come up with, either. nt

[Hannah Bell]

4. This should be watched closely, because they're going to try to cut SS & Medicare under the guise of

deficit reduction -- even though both programs are self-funded.

[Bluebear]

7. Oh but they really really don't want to, it's one of those hard choices.

You know, the ones you HAVE to make. To cut spending and all. :silly:

[Hannah Bell]

11. oh, yeah. i (wink wink) know.

[pinto]

13. The commission will obviously have no legislative power to cut any federally mandated program.

That power remains with the Congress, iirc.

The only substantive idea I've seen floated of late is cutting Medicare Advantage reimbursements. Not a bad idea, in and of itself. MA is a bloated cash cow for insurance companies.

[Hannah Bell]

14. If the commission recommends it, & Congress wants to do it, they will.

The commission = smokescreen, justification, rationale, appearance of bipartisan agreement on the "tough choices".

[Foo Fighter]

15. Hey, c'mon now.

Give Congress some credit. After all, just look at everything they have done to help the poor and middle class, like...uh...er...OK, I got nothin'.

The commission is bogus. Their recommendations will sail through Congress unscathed and everyone knows it.

[Hannah Bell]

18. I'm starting to compose my letter & fact sheet now. Then I'll xerox both & distribute to friends,

family, & in every other venue I can. I'll doorbell & stand in front of walmart if it comes to that.

I encourage others to do the same.

They can only do it if the public lets them.

[inna]

20. Please do and be sure to post it to your DU journal,

I'd love to read that letter/fact sheet and so would many other DUers, I'm sure. :hi:

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. Yes, please post it, and post it often.

YOU see it, don't you?
The results of the commission are already written, the plan will be presented piecemeal,
an act here, a law revision there, bit by bit, until the whole retirement scheme is changed.

And i will tell you one thing that will be in it....write this down.

soon now they will make a change to the IRA rules.
The change will be that IRAs MUST be invested in US Treasuries
AND
when it comes to collect your retirement, you will be paid off in annuities, at a fixed monthly rate.

People over a certain age, perhaps 55, will be kept on the current Soc. Sec. system of payments.
People getting Soc. Sec. disability will be strongly encouraged to to get off of it ( carrot and stick)
starting with the mental illness diagnoses first.

This is all assuming our economic system remains intact long enough.

[Bluebear]

5. 'making some hard choices' - I can hardly wait.

[paulk]

6. Alan Simpson?

You've got to be fucking kidding me....

[Bluebear]

9. Big "change", ain't it?

[Subdivisions]

10. Instant fail. n/t

[katandmoon]

12. Every day he shrivels up more.

[asdjrocky]

16. Big government for the rich.

Small government for the poor.

Same old song and dance.

[Hardrada]

17. When they say the word "reform" I reach for my revolver.

To paraphrase Goebbels or somebody. But one does get furious. This POS commission will give a carte blanche to giving away Social Security too.

[Jim Sagle]

21. Our resident cheerleader in chief hasn't hit this thread yet.

You'll all be sorry when she does. ;)

[saltpoint]

22. He should pack the Panel with survivors of the cast of COOL HAND LUKE.

Just a suggestion.

[TheKentuckian]

23. The Great Privatizer is in the house

:puke:

[jeanpalmer]

24. Erskine Bowles, banker

and Alan Simpson, crazy right winger. Is there any doubt where this is headed?

“There are those who still champion the old time religion, defending every New Deal and Great Society program from Republican encroachment, achieving ratings of 100% from the liberal interest groups. But these efforts seem exhausted, a constant game of defense, bereft of energy and new ideas needed to address the changing circumstances of globalization....” Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, pp. 38-39.

[Spike from MN]

25. Wow, that's one helluva quote you posted there.

I thought Reagan was dead. Looks to me like Obama is hell-bent on resurrecting him.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

26. That quote makes me ill. I was "too busy" to read the book. My fault

He told us he was a blank canvas that we projected our individual hopes onto. He told us he admired Ronald Reagan. He did drop the hints. And then he followed through. Boy did he ever. Is he going to accomplish Bush's dream of privatizing Social Security? Is he about to gut Medicare?

I fervantly wish I could go back in time and recast my primary ballot, I really really do. Someone else posted they're about done. Me too. How much is a liberal Old School Dem (social safety net/civil rights/environmental/Rule of Law(investigate and punish)/healthcare for all/consumer protection . . .) supposed to take?

[Spike from MN]

30. I didn't read the book.

I had him pegged as a corporate sellout from day one. His choice of Cabinet members only confirmed my suspicions. I didn't follow the primaries or the election and never even remotely considered voting for Obama. I went third party and have absolutely no regrets.

I knew Obama was going to screw over the poor and middle class but wasn't aware that he was so goddamned determined to go after Social Security and Medicare. Just imagine if he would put even one iota of that same determination towards getting single-payer health care. Ha, like that would ever happen.

Oh wait. I keep forgetting. He's playing chess. Yeah, that's it. :eyes:

[Bluebear]

31. Wow.

[Odin2005]

27. This just screams EPIC FAIL.

[piratefish08]

28. "a bipartisan fiscal commission". Oh good. This should be productive.

I'm sure the commission will find that more war and less HC is the best way to go to reduce debt.............

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

32. eveing kick. nt.