House Group Resurrects Simpson-Bowles Plan
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
House Group Resurrects Simpson-Bowles Plan
By: Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal Online
WASHINGTON-A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, bucking
Democratic and Republican leaders, is moving to propose a broad
plan that would aim to reduce the federal budget deficit by more
than $4 trillion over 10 years through a combination of spending
cuts and tax increases.
A vote on the measure, which would be offered as a substitute to
the House Republican budget, could come in the next few days. The
vote could prove a key test of whether Congress can pursue a broad
bipartisan budget deal in an election year.
The 81-page plan, pushed by Reps. Steve LaTourette (R., Ohio)
and Jim Cooper (D., Tenn.), largely reflects the outline offered by
the White House's deficit-reduction commission in 2010, chaired by
Republican former Sen. Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine
Bowles.
It includes broader changes in entitlement programs than many
Democrats have supported and larger increases in tax revenue than
many Republicans have supported.
The proposal is notable because it has already received the
backing of a handful of House Republicans, a group which had so far
resisted efforts to reduce the deficit by raising taxes. Mr.
LaTourette, in a release, said he has the support of Reps. Charlie
Bass (R., N.H.) and Tom Reed (R., N.Y.). Other Democrats supporting
the proposal include Reps. Mike Quigley of Illinois and Kurt
Schrader of Oregon.
The proposal appears to mirror efforts by a growing group of
Senators, who have argued for more than a year that a broad
deficit-reduction approach was necessary to slow the growth of the
nation's debt. The Senate group, known as the Gang of Six, failed
to win broad support for its proposal last year, but they are now
considering whether to give it another try this year, people
familiar with the effort said.
Now lawmakers in both chambers are trying to begin negotiations
on a broad budget deal ahead of the November elections. They have
warned their colleagues that a chaotic political environment awaits
them before the end of the year, when large tax cuts are set to
expire, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts will kick in, and the
federal debt level again nears its statutory ceiling.
The House lawmakers are hoping to offer their plan as a
substitute to the Republican budget offered last week by Rep. Paul
Ryan (R., Wis.), which doesn't include any tax increases.
Mr. Ryan's budget proposal, which would restructure Medicare and
Medicaid, has broad support among Republican leaders, but is
opposed by the White House and many Democrats. The White House's
most recent budget plan calls for a combination of spending cuts
and tax increases, but it avoids changes to Social Security, and is
opposed by many Republicans.
"I'm tired of passing bills in the House, watching them die in
the Senate and pretending that counts as success," Mr. LaTourette
said in a release.