Give power to cut entitlements to independent commission?
whoever
there was talk of a "sunset commission". Now several so-called
bi-partison DINOs and repubs are considering something similar. If
this proposal is tied to the health care reform bill It'll bring about
a poison pill that'll make it DOA.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/67293-sens-squeeze-speaker-over-commission
Sens. squeeze Speaker over commission
By Jared Allen and Walter Alarkon - 11/10/09 08:14 PM ET
Senators from both parties on Tuesday put new pressure on Speaker
Nancy Pelosi to turn the power to trim entitlement benefits over to an
independent commission.
Seven members of the Senate Budget Committee threatened during a
Tuesday hearing to withhold their support for critical legislation to
raise the debt ceiling if the bill calling for the creation of a
bipartisan fiscal reform commission were not attached. Six others had
previously made such threats, bringing the total to 13 senators
drawing a hard line on the committee legislation.
�You rarely do have the leverage to make a fundamental change,� said
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who said he
hasn�t ruled out offering the independent commission legislation as an
amendment to the healthcare reform bill.
The panel, which has been championed by Conrad and ranking member Judd
Gregg (R-N.H), would be tasked with stemming the unsustainable rise in
debt.
Among its chief responsibilities would be closing the gap between tax
revenue coming in and the larger cost of paying for Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The Government Accountability Office
recently reported the gap is on pace to reach an �unsustainable� $63
trillion in 2083.
The panel would also have the power to craft legislation that would
change the tax code and set limits on government spending.
The legislation would then be subject to an up-or-down vote; it could
not be amended.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) has scoffed at the idea of taking control over
taxes, spending and social welfare programs away from her committee
chairmen.
But Pelosi also knows Congress is under pressure to raise the cap on
what the federal government can borrow by mid-December. If the debt
ceiling is not raised above its current $12.1 trillion mark by then,
the government will exceed its borrowing limits and will be forced to
default on the debt. Economists have warned that the inevitable result
would be a lowering of the U.S. credit rating, triggering substantial
increases in the interest rates the government is already paying.
Raising the debt ceiling has become one of a handful of �must-pass�
pieces of legislation Congress regularly considers without the usual
partisan posturing, and often without much debate.
But before Tuesday�s hearing was over, Sens. Conrad, Gregg, Evan Bayh
(D-Ind.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Joe
Lieberman (I-Conn.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Jeff Sessions
(R-Ala.) publicly vowed to vote against raising the debt ceiling if a
budget reform commission bill doesn�t come along with it.
�There are rare moments in this institution when you can implement
fundamental change,� Bayh said during Tuesday�s hearing. �This is one
of them.�
Asked last week about growing support in the Senate for the
commission, Pelosi was unyielding.
�How we proceed should, I think, have a strong basis in our committees
in the Congress,� she said. �They are bipartisan, they are elected by
the people. They can have public and open hearings on different
initiatives in relationship to curtailing the growth of entitlements.�
The House has already passed a $925 billion increase to the current
$12.1 trillion debt limit. And with the Treasury Department reporting
that the government is already perilously close to that $12.1 trillion
ceiling and will likely breach it by mid-December, it would seem as
though the House has the upper hand.
But new estimates show that even a $925 billion increase won�t get the
government through the 2010 midterm elections. Many lawmakers want
both chambers to agree now on a larger increase in order to get the
issue off the table until after voters weigh in on the job performance
of the 111th Congress.
That has budget hawks across Congress feeling as though the Senate
will be able to win in a game of legislative chicken with the House,
even against Pelosi.
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), who along with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has
proposed an alternative commission plan, said the Senate has leverage
in this debate.
�If these senators are willing to condition their support for the debt
limit on addressing our long-term fiscal crisis, it will be hard for
the rest of Congress to ignore them,� Cooper said.
Beyond Pelosi�s office, other House leaders were heeding the warning
bells being sounded by key Democratic chairmen and centrists in the
Senate.
�While failing to increase the debt limit is not an option, the need
to raise the debt limit should be accompanied by a serious discussion
about possible actions we can take to deal with our fiscal challenge,�
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement.
�Putting in place a mechanism to deal with our long-term fiscal
shortfalls, as well as legislation restoring statutory pay-go, should
be a part of that discussion.�
Conrad, Gregg, Cooper and others differ on how much authority Congress
can yield to an outside panel � even one consisting of senators and
House members. But they all agree Congress lacks the political
wherewithal to make potentially drastic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security, or raise taxes, in the name of fiscal responsibility.
�I don�t mind giving regular order a chance,� Gregg said. �But it�s
had the chance for years.�
And Conrad signaled that he may likewise have run out of patience with
the status quo, suggesting that if Democratic leaders refuse to couple
a vote on a bipartisan fiscal task force of some kind with the debt
limit increase, he would seek to attach a commission proposal to other
crucial legislation.
�There are other vehicles,� Conrad said Tuesday, �including
healthcare.�