Go big, for our future’s sake
Published 12:23 pm Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Three weeks before its deadline to produce a deficit-reduction plan, the congressional “supercommittee” got a bipartisan talking-to Tuesday that included a little encouragement and a lot of stark warnings.
“I believe that if you all go big, and if you’re bold, and if you do it in a smart manner, then the American people will support you,” said former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), who co-chaired a bipartisan fiscal reform commission that outlined some $4 trillion in deficit savings, made up of a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
Simpson’s co-chairman, Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff, struck a more somber tone: “I’m worried you’re going to fail, fail the country.”
In a world plagued by financial instability and uncertainty, this committee of six Democrats and six Republicans represents perhaps the best opportunity to stave off another recession and turn the U.S. economy toward sustainable job growth. Or it could make things worse.
Agreement on a big deficit reduction plan would make two incalculably positive statements to panicky financial markets, to employers who are afraid to hire and to consumers who are afraid to spend: The U.S. government is facing up to its responsibility regarding its debt, and a U.S. political system based on finding compromise for the good of the nation still works.
Getting there will take political courage from both sides. The kinds of major moves that must be made are spelled out in the Bowles-Simpson commission’s recommendations. Democrats will have to agree to some fundamental restructuring of health entitlements, and Republicans will have to agree to tax increases.
If neither side will compromise, former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) told the supercommittee Tuesday, they will be “equally complicit in bringing the nation closer to the fiscal brink.”
And, we would add, making the U.S. economy even more vulnerable to a rapid plunge back into recession, or worse, based on events in Europe, the Middle East or elsewhere. Plus, failure by the supercommittee to agree on a plan, or of Congress to pass it, would trigger cuts in military and other discretionary spending that could prove counterproductive and dangerous.
The upside of reaching agreement on a $4 trillion deal over 10 years could be far-reaching. The burst of relative certainty it would provide could loosen the logjam of corporate cash that’s been sitting on the sidelines and lead to more small-business lending, both of which should begin driving down the unemployment rate. That, in turn, would boost revenue to all levels of government, staving off damaging cuts to education, public safety and vital human services.
We agree with Simpson, that the American people will support a bold deficit-reduction plan. It really is the only rational option.
