Deficit Commission Moves The Goalpost, Disses Leading Progressive Member

[daa]

Source: Campaign for America's Future

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., says that as of this morning she had not been shown the latest proposal of the White House deficit commission, even as she says it is being "shopped around" by its co-chairs in an effort to get the support of a simple majority of its 18 members—not the support of 14 members as was its original goal.

Schakowsky confirmed this shift in an interview with OurFuture.org after giving a private briefing to members of the Tuesday Group, a meeting of progressive organization leaders convened by the Campaign for America's Future.

The deficit commission—formally known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform—was scheduled to hold a public meeting today in advance of its planned release of its recommendations Wednesday, but the meeting was abruptly canceled. Instead, its co-chairs, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, were tweaking the deficit reduction plan they made public earlier this month, which includes proposals to cut Social Security benefits, Medicare and Medicaid, and other key programs.


Read more: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010114830/deficit-commission-moves-goalpost-disses-leading-progressive-member

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The fix is in and Obama created it, a mess just like HIR.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Oh, now, hold your horses. This is just a proposal.

Obama hasn't said he agrees.Let's not pur words in his mouth. Let's not get prematurely excited about this. It hasn't gotten through Congress, and Obama will probably veto it even if it does.

(I'm auditioning for a cheerleader job. How'm I doing?)

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Can I throw up now?

Or do I have to wait until it passes?



Tansy Gold, getting tired of the rubber stamp

[monmouth]

5. You can have my pom poms, I'm out...n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Yeah, I'm expecting one of these days there will be a lot of

vacancies for the position. (Ack. Did I say "the position?")

[ProfessionalLeftist]

7. Obama hasn't said anything, particularly in regards to

the 'cow with 300,000 tits' (or whatever the number was) and the 'greedy' remarks from one particular sphincter on that commission. To most people, this means he agrees. I assume he does.

[JackRiddler]

14. Sorry, you forgot the required attack on pony dreamers.

[Jackpine Radical]

15. Thank you. I'm just learning, you know.

And this is really a major change for me.

[bvar22]

18. You forgot:

"Can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

"This is the most progressive bill since FDR."

"This is Historic."

"Pass it NOW. We'll fix it later."

Obama doesn't have a Magic Wand."

"Its only been two years."

"You can't just turn a big ship." (Whatever THAT meant.)

"We need to chalk up a WIN."

AND

"Its ALL Joe Lieberman's fault."

:party:

[DJ13]

3. not the support of 14 members as was its original goal

Someone correct me if Im wrong, but if it doesnt pass with the required 14 votes it cant come before Congress for a vote, can it?

[Travelman]

8. I don't think that the vote has any binding at all...

Whether it's 14 or 10, as I understand it, there's no actual binding to the vote of the commission. Neither the Senate nor the House has any obligation to even look at the thing even if it's a unanimous vote.

I suspect that they'll deadlock somewhere around 12 votes, then print out what they've got and say that they've done what they could. Then everyone will run around Capitol Hill waving it over their heads like it's the Dead Sea Scrolls or something.

[NorthCarolina]

11. Well, you're probably in for a big surprise then.

14 was the initial goal, but I'm sure that the pundits will argue how that was unrealistic from the get-go, and that a simple majority is....well...it's 'American!' Also, there's nothing that says the new Congress that convenes in January has to stick by the 14 vote requirement either.

[elleng]

4. Hope WH learns and appreciates significance of this.

Maybe why she did interview.

[atreides1]

10. Which WH would that be

Surely you're not referring to the one here in D.C.?

[elleng]

12. ...

:thumbsdown:

[Skittles]

17. LOL

yes INDEED
:thumbsup:

[kristopher]

9. About the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

From the Commission's website:

"About the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

President Obama created the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to address our nation's fiscal challenges. The Commission is charged with identifying policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run. Specifically, the Commission shall propose recommendations designed to balance the budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 2015. In addition, the Commission shall propose recommendations 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.

The Commission will meet as a whole once a month while Congress is in session. The Commission will vote on a final report containing a set of recommendations to achieve its mission no later than December 1, 2010. The final report will require the approval of at least 14 of the Commission's 18 members."
http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/about


Also, this is a presidential commission, it was not enabled by a legislative act but by a presidential order. It therefore has no authority to require a vote in Congress on the report.

"4. Description of Duties. The functions of the Commission are advisory only. The Commission shall propose recommendations to balance the budget, excluding interest payment on the debt, by 2015. This result is projected to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at an acceptable level once the economy recovers. In addition, 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.

The Commission shall provide its advice and recommendations, analysis, and information directly to the President. In providing the President this advice, the Commission should reflect the judgment and views of the members of the Commission. To meet these objectives, the Commission will conduct such activities as necessary. The President may direct the Commission to provide its analysis, information, and advice and recommendations to any agency with responsibilities relevant to the mission identified in the Charter, to Congress, or any other relevant congressional committee."
http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/charter

[Jackpine Radical]

16. See? Obama only created the commission.

God appointed Baucus and Simpson.

Whatever they say isn't Obama's fault.

[displacedvermoter]

13. The "White House deficit commission"

is what they are calling it, and the President does, indeed, have ownership of whatever comes from this mean-spirited exercise.