There's been a great deal of discussion recently on the Deficit Commission, especially in light of the comments on social security made by co-chair Alan Simpson. I'm not going to defend Simpson's comments. They were ridiculous & I disagree with them 100%. But this diary isn't about his comments. Rather, it is about the lies told by some on the left with intent of making you believe President Obama has a secret agenda to cut your social security. Since no one seems to have done this, let's actually examine what the commission can actually do.
Here is their web site. That's right, they have a web site. You can even send them a suggestion. They probably won't read it, but if you have an idea, let them know about it. The site has the charter of the commission. Here's an important section:
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.
See anything there about recommendations guaranteed as up or down vote in Congress? Me either. What it says is that the recommendations will be sent to the President, & he may direct the commission to send them to Congress. But there's nothing about Congress being forced to vote on them. For all we know, Speaker Pelosi or Maj. Leader Reid could get a copy of the report & immediately put it through the shredder. Here's another interesting note about the commission:
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.
14 of 18 members. Here's a list of the commission members:
Sen. Alan Simpson
Erskine Bowles
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA 31)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI 4)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
David Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell International
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Ann Fudge, Former CEO, Young & Rubicam Brands
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX 5)
Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute and former Director, Office of Management & Budget
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL 9)
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC 5)
Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union
Do you really think 14 people out of this group will agree on anything controversial? I'd be surprised if they agreed on where to have lunch. Andy Stern & Tom Coburn. Jan Schakowsky & Mike Crapo. They will agree on nothing!
So why all the rage? I don't know, I suppose certain people on the right & left get certain benefits from our rage. Let's face it, when we're angry, page views increase, as does ad revenue. And then you've got a site like FDL, which has gone completely off the deep end, even aligning with Grover Norquist and calling for a primary of Bernie Sanders. You want to be angry? Great. Blog & twitter to your heart's content. But get the facts straight.