My Apologies

Back in February, when the Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction commission was first formed and charged by President Obama with recommending some way, any way, out of our fiscal mess, I expressed more than a little doubt about its likelihood of success, and perhaps too much skepticism about its relative seriousness.  I believed, first, that the whole project was simply a way for the Obama Administration to kick the can down the road, to avoid dealing seriously with a very real problem the solving of which would entail very real political costs.  Moreover, I was sure that a commission led by a committed liberal like Erskine Bowles and a less-than-committed conservative like Alan Simpson could reach only one conclusion. i.e., we need to raise taxes.  It appears I was wrong.

A first glance at their various proposals indicates that they were indeed serious.  Bowels concludes that the balance of their recommendations consist of about one-quarter tax increases and three-quarters spending decreases.  I'm not so sure about that, but the fact that Democrats are the first to voice reservations about the plan is encouraging.

Some would say that the recommendations of a commission such as this that troubles or even angers both sides more or less equally shows that they probably got it just about right.  But they would be wrong.  Any serious proposal to get a handle on our national debt and deficit spending must, by definition, upset Democrats more than Republicans.  The Democrat Party is the party of big government and while there are more than enough Republican fingerprints on the fiscal problems we face, the crime is still chiefly theirs.

While it's still far too early to say whether or not the commission's recommendations will yield success, it's a good place to start and its leadership should be commended for that anyway.