–Former Federal Chairman Says Key Report Is Best Chance For U.S
–Should See If There Are Hill Votes For Simpson-Bowles
–Would ‘Despair’ For U.S If Simpson-Bowles Were Defeated
–Obama Made Should Have Embraced Simpson-Bowles In January
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan
Greenspan said Wednesday that Congress’s new deficit reduction panel
should make some relatively minor adjustments to last year’s
Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan and then use it as its plan.
In comments at a budget conference, Greenspan offered a gloomy
assessment of the nation’s fiscal situation and predicted that the U.S.
will eventually pass a package along the lines of the Simpson-Bowles.
The only issue, he said tersely, is if such a plan is approved
before or after a major financial crisis rocks the U.S.
“We ought to find out if Bowles-Simpson has the votes,” Greenspan
said.
Greenspan said he would “despair” for the nation’s fate if the
Simpson-Bowles plan were rejected by Congress.
The former Fed Chairman said he believes President Obama made a
major mistake by not embracing the Simpson-Bowles plan last year and
then incorporating it into his budget this year.
Greenspan said Congress’s new deficit reduction panel should secure
$4 trillion in budget savings over a decade at a minimum–the
recommendation of Simpson-Bowles.
The Joint Select Committee On Deficit Reduction has been charged to
identify $1.5 trillion in savings.
Greenspan said he believes that policymakers should get rid of the
whole concept tax expenditures. These are the $1 trillion in
annual credits and deductions that are part of the tax code.
He said the Simpson-Bowles committee’s decision to eliminate most
of these tax expenditures was both “elegant” and “clever.”
** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MFU$$$,MCU$$$]
