SAFE Commission

The Need
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), outlays will top $4 trillion for this year alone and will consume 28.5 percent of our nation's economy.  By 2019, CBO estimates that spending will still constitute 24.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - about four percentage points above the historical average.  On the revenue side, CBO estimates that the Administration's budget will increase taxes by $1.5 trillion.   The proposal would more than double the level of public debt over the 10 year CBO projection - resulting in debt equal to 82 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2019.   

We have a responsibility to avoid passing a massive debt burden on to our children and grandchildren.  A doubling of the debt burden over the next 10 years to 82 percent of GDP will impose a significant tax burden on them coupled with the prospect of a lower standard of living.  In conjunction with the coming explosion in entitlement spending entailed by the aging of the "baby-boomers," we are simply "kicking the can down the road" for the next generation to address.  As both a father and grandfather, this greatly concerns me.  The time is long overdue for a holistic look at the budget process which takes into account our immediate needs and which doesn't plant the seeds for the next economic bubble.  If nothing else, we must learn from the current crisis that it is not possible to indefinitely live beyond our means. 

The Legislation
The SAFE Commission Act (H.R. 1557), bipartisan legislation authored by Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), would:

• Establish the Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Commission to develop legislation designed to address:
  • the unsustainable imbalance between long-term federal spending commitments and projected revenues
  • increases in net national savings to provide for domestic investment and economic growth,
  • the implications of foreign ownership of federally issued debt instruments, and
  • revision of the budget process to place greater emphasis on long-term fiscal issues.
• Require the Commission to:
  • develop one or two methods for estimating the cost of legislation as an alternative to the current Congressional Budget Office (CBO) method, and
  • hold at least one town-hall style public hearing within each federal reserve district.
• Require the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to Congress and the President to achieve generational equity and long-term economic stability.
• Authorize the President to submit to Congress an alternative proposal.
• Authorize the Committee on the Budget of either chamber to publish its own alternative proposal in the Congressional Record.
• Require the House and Senate to vote on the legislation within 90 days.
• Require CBO to prepare a long-term cost estimate and have it published in the Congressional Record as expeditiously as possible whenever requested to do so by the Commission, the President, or the chairman or ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget of either chamber.

Supporters
Cosponsors 

Brief Overview
What Others are Saying
Ad by Peter G. Peterson Foundation

The Media's View of the SAFE Commission
"Panel Likely to Debate Proposed Commission to Address National Debt"
David Clarke, CQToday, July 7, 2009

"Will America Lose its Triple-A Bond Rating?"
Josh Geldrich, The Examiner, May 25, 2009

"Fix is hard for Medicare, Social Security finances"
Tom Raum, The Associated Press, May 24, 2009

"The President's Budget"
The Washington Post, Editorial, May 10, 2009

"Molehill Out of a Budget Mountain"
David Broder, Columnist, The Washington Post, May 10, 2009

"The Real Bipartisanship"
Matthew Continetti, Columnist, The Weekly Standard, May 4, 2009

"The Genius of Future Fiscal Commission"
David Abshire, Letter to the Editor, The Washington Post, April 22, 2009

"Fixing the Budget the Worst (But Only) Way"
Fred Hiatt, Columnist, The Washington Post, April 12, 2009

"Hiding a Mountain of Debt"
David Broder, Columnist, The Washington Post, March 29, 2009

"A Limited Dose of Reassurance"
Michael Gerson, Columnist, The Washington Post, February 27, 2009

"What the Country Needs?  A Fiscal Triple Play"
David Walker, Op-Ed, USA Today, February 5, 2009

"Stimulus Bargain Is Hard, but Debt Bargain Is Harder"
Morton Kondracke, Op-Ed, Roll Call, February 5, 2009

"Years to Come"
The Washington Post, Editorial, January 8, 2009