One compromise I have not heard in the "debate" so far is to raise the debt limit by whatever's needed, say $2.7 Trillion, and concurrently vote to implement the results of the Simpson-Bowles Commission with an up or down vote. Those thoughtful recommendations were commissioned by the President, and made after great debate and study, then completely ignored. They had bipartisan input and agreement and the whole commission was set up to offer political cover.
I assume we haven't seen any bill that could garner a compromise of Democrats and "Moderate Republicans" because Boehner won't allow a vote on anything but his bill. Can the President and Reid bully him to allow a vote like this? Perhaps by passing it first in the Senate?
There are 87 GOP freshmen in the house. Back in December, 60 of these relented and voted for the Boehner-Obama compromise to keep the government running. Even if you back out all the freshmen from the 240 Republicans there are 153 left. There are 193 Dems. If the magic number is 217, don't we simply need to find a plan that all 193 Dems plus 24 Republicans will vote for?
I am not personally 100% behind the Simpson Bowles recommendations (specifically the co-chairs report), but they are the only "grand bargain" on the deficit that has been reached that I know of...flawed as it may be.
Can someone enlighten me about this? Or as a broader question help me understand why this commission was so ignored? I understand why the Teabaggers ignored it but even the Dems let it die, yet Harry Reid is pushing for other cuts on his own...