Who's up for a BOG Quiz on the Fiscal Commission?

[quiet.american]

1. What is the Commission Mission?

a. To identify to the President policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run.

b. To create a deficit-reduction report which by law compels the President and Congress to implement its recommendations.

c. To create a report to identify who gets voted off the island and who gets to stay.


2. Which description of the Commission's duties has been the cause of more pre-emptive freaking out than sporting an 'Obama Makes FDR Look Like a Punk' sig line?

a. Specifically, the Commission shall propose recommendations to the President to balance the budget, excluding interest payment on the debt, by 2015.

b. The Commission shall propose recommendations to the President that meaningfully improve the long-run fiscal outlook, including changes to address the growth of entitlement spending and the gap between the projected revenues and expenditures of the Federal Government.

c. The Commission shall provide its advice and recommendations, analysis, and information directly to the President.

d. All of the above


3. What recommendations has the Commission made so far regarding Social Security costs?

a. Benefits should be reduced to a standard $100/month for all recipients
b. The official retirement age should be raised by ten years to 75 years old
c. Benefits should be taxed at 40%
d. All of the above
e. None of the above


4. In what capacity is the Commission serving?
a. Slightly sober
b. Slightly tipsy
c. Advisory


5. Name the six members appointed by the President (hint: Snooki was not named to the Commission).


6. According to the Commission By-Laws, what type of non-public meetings can the Commission hold?

a. Ouji Board meetings

b. Adminstrative, Research & Prep meetings, and meetings under limited circumstances that meet applicable law

c. Oprah's Book of the Month meetings


7. Which Commission member said this "wtf?" statement:

"The irony that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way,
not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess."

a. Alan Simpson
b. Alan Simpson
c. Alan Simpson


8. Which Commission member said this about messages from the public they've received over the last month: "I've received some lovely messages, calls, and emails -- some not quite as charming as those I used to get from Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kansas, who's an idiot."

a. Kent Conrad
b. Alan Simpson
c. Richard Durbin


9. Which of the following groups and organizations have testified before the Commission?

National Council of Women’s Organizations
Americans for Tax Reform
Physicians for a National Health Program
Progressive Policy Institute
Citizens for Tax Justice
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
United Church of Christ
National Nurses United
AFL-CIO
SEIU
All of the above


10. How many registered Democrats, and how many registered Republicans, make up the 18-member Commission?

a. 10 Democrats, 8 Republicans

b. 14 Democrats, 4 Republicans

c. 9 Democrats, 9 Republicans


11. Which Commission member is the founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office?

a. Alice Rivlin
b. Andy Stern
c. Erkine Bowles


12. Which Commission member received a Lifetime Achievement award from Ebony magazine?

a. David Cote
b. Paul Ryan
c. Ann Fudge


13. Which member of Congress (who is not a Commission member) wrote a blog post at The Hill's Congress Blog calling for Simpson's resignation?

a. Lynn Woolsey
b. John Boehner
c. I have no idea



14. Earlier this year, which Commission member made Republican Paul Ryan walk back an attempt to discredit CBO?

a. Richard Durbin
b. Jan Schakowsky
c. Xavier Becerra


15. The Commission meets once a month. Where can you watch the sessions?

a. At the beach
b. At your local wonk bar where they keep the TV tuned to C-SPAN
c. At fiscalcommission.gov, and C-SPAN online
d. All of the above

-------------------

Thanks for playing. The correct answers are in reply #1.

[quiet.american]

1. Answers:

1. a
2. b, and in some cases, d
3. e
4.c
5. Alice Rivlin; Ann Fudge; Andrew Stern; David Cote; Alan Simpson; Erskine Bowles
6. b
7. a,b,c
8. b
9. All of the above
10. a
11. a
12. c
13.a
14. c
15. c, and technically, d

[Number23]

2. You are such a WONK!

I love it! :loveya:

And I don't know much about this Commission, and yet I still know the answer to question #3 is E

[quiet.american]

3. Great to see you here, Number23!

Cheers!, you are correct -- the answer to #3 is E. :)

Confession time: The Commission sessions I've watched so far are so hardcore wonk, I've had to click
'rewind' at least four times in attempts to get through them -- and I haven't quite made it yet. But I sure am discovering a ton about stuff like why it's vitally important to distinguish whether the analysis being presented is on "gross debt" or "debt held by the public." (In this case, the analysis being presented was on "gross debt." - don't ask me what that means! That will take another rewind.)

Thanks for stopping by!

:fistbump: :hug:

[grantcart]

4. Just as long as they save cat food.

I gather from GD that there is going to be quite a shortage of cat food in the future and people want the commission to make sure that future catfood production is safe guarded.


Thanks for the clever and interesting way to make a dry subject fun.

[quiet.american]

5. I haven't seen that come up in the sessions yet, Grant --

-- but there's also a suggestion submission form on fiscalcommission.gov's website, so, I'm sure someone will get around to submitting that! :)

Cheers, and thanks.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

7. Yes. We need something like the Stategic Oil Reserves

Only full of Fancy Feast

[sandnsea]

10. They should all buy stock in Fancy Feast

It's organic.

[Hekate]

6. If Simpson is the Repub co-chair, who is the Dem co-chair and why isn't s/he speaking out?

Or is that person speaking out but so sanely that it never makes the news? And why, why, why aren't the Dem co-chair and the Prez evicting Simpson from his chair?

Great post, btw, very informative!

Hekate

[quiet.american]

8. Hey Hekate, Erkine Bowles is the Co-Chair.

And from watching the sessions, Erskine Bowles is lovin' on Alan Simpson. Just thinks he's quite the character and is so "proud" to be serving with him. The older pols on the Commission seem to also share that view.

As to your other question, "out here," I think sometimes that we tend to forget that ties in Washington often go way back. To us, Simpson may be an offensive guy who was plucked out of the pasture to take up this job, but apparently, he and Joe Biden go back as friends some thirty years. From watching the Commission sessions, it sounds like he was probably a direct recommendation of Biden's to the President for the position, and according to Simpson. (at one of the Commission sessions), Biden called him personally to ask him to take this up. So now, to kick him out on his posterior would be "awkward." But, I think a way that Simpson could step down is for him to cite not wanting to be a "distraction" to the further work of the Commission.... Anyway, the Commission will only be in existence for four more months... so that may also be a reason his resignation is not being demanded.

Cheers, and thanks!

[ismnotwasm]

9. Now that is cool

Thank you.

[quiet.american]

13. Cheers, Ismnotwasm. Thanks for checking it out. nt

[sandnsea]

11. Durbin is on the Commission too

And I just don't think he's going to let anything overly terrible happen to social security.

[quiet.american]

12. I agree, Sandnsea.

I still remember how at the HCR Summit hosted by Pres. Obama, Durbin, with pain in his voice as though it had just happened yesterday, recounted how when he was a young lawyer in Washington, his then-young daughter had become ill and how humiliated and powerless he felt because he had no health insurance.

He used that story in part to beat back the GOP's mantra of... let's take it easy, this bill is too much, too soon, let's start over, let's take baby steps on this....

Now, I know many here on our side of the aisle argue that HCR offers too little. However, knowing that the Republicans were desperately trying to make HCR "Obama's Waterloo", it was great watching Dick Durbin beating back "teh stupid" at that summit. I've long liked him, even before I'd learned he is one of the major pols who early on championed Obama. Durbin has my confidence that while recommendations that come from this commission will no doubt cause a public uproar, he will have made every effort to find a fair approach.

[Cha]

14. What a fun awesome way to get the

non hysterical information on the Fiscal Commission, quiet.american!

Number 4 :rofl::fistbump: Brilliant to have a Wonk in the BOG~

#14-Yeah, at the beach, babyB-)

[quiet.american]

15. Speaking of which, today seems like a perfect beach day, Cha.

Too bad I'm stuck inside!

Cheers, and thanks. :fistbump:

[firedupdem]

16. Thanks for this info! What a cool way to present it!

:yourock: :yourock: