–Report Gains Two GOP Votes, But Is Still Set To Fall Short of 14
–Republican Senators Crap, Coburn Say They Will Support Chairmen’s Plan
–Plan Unlikely To Get 14 Votes, But Secures Support of Key Lawmakers

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The two co-chairmen of the National Commission
on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, former Sen. Alan Simpson and
former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, said Thursday that
they will hold the final vote for their plan at 9:30 a.m. EST Friday.

Simpson and Bowles presented their revised plan Wednesday to their
18 member commission. The plan calls for about $4 trillion in budget
savings over a decade.

For the plan to be sent to Congress for votes would require 14 of
the 18 panel members to vote for it.

During Wednesday’s session, it seemed clear from the comments of
commissioners that more than four members of the panel will oppose the
plan.

But the plan appears likely to secure at least 10 affirmative
votes, including the current chairmen of the House and Senate Budget
Committees and the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

Two conservative Republican senators, Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo,
said Thursday they will vote for the package. In a statement, they said
the plan “while flawed and incomplete,” would allow the U.S. to avoid a
fiscal meltdown.

“This plan will not just avert disaster, but help drive the kind of
economic recovery we need to create jobs and spur growth,” they said.

For months, budget experts have said that it was almost impossible
for Simpson and Bowles to come up with a plan that would secure support
of 14 members of their panel.

But experts have said the key test will come when President Obama
and congressional leaders submit their fiscal year 2012 budgets early
next year.

Rep. Paul Ryan, the incoming chairman of the House Budget
Committee, has indicated that he will oppose the plan, but has said he
will incorporate many of its elements into his budget that he will
release next February or March.

“There are some ideas in here that I think are worth copying,
borrowing, and putting in this year’s budget, which I fully intend to
do,” Ryan said at the panel’s meeting Wednesday.

The Simpson-Bowles plan calls for about $4 trillion in deficit
reduction between 2012 and 2020. To achieve this, they call for $1.6
trillion from discretionary savings, $556 billion in entitlement
savings, $785 billion by scaling back so-called “tax earmarks,” and $673
billion in interest savings.

The plan would bring the federal budget deficit down to 2.3% of
gross domestic product by 2015. It would reduce the nation’s debt to 60%
of GDP by 2023 and to 40% of GDP by 2035.

To achieve these fiscal goals it would force sweeping changes to
the federal budget, changes far beyond what any Congress or
administration has even contemplated, let alone accepted.

The plan would wring deep savings out of every corner of the
federal budget, including defense and Social Security.

The plan calls for fiscal changes that would bring federal spending
down to about 21% of GDP and boost revenues to bring them up to 21% of
GDP.

President Obama created the commission on Feb. 18 by executive
order after an attempt by lawmakers to create a panel by statute failed
in the Senate.

The Commission is charged to issue a report by Dec. 1 that would
cut the deficit to about 3% of gross domestic product by fiscal year
2015 and begin slowing the growth of debt over the long term.

The Commission includes the chairmen and ranking members of the
Senate and House Budget committees, the chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, and a former White House budget director and vice chairman of
the Federal Reserve Board.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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