Op-Ed: The Budget Battle: A Middle Way?

With all of the talk of government shutdowns ringing in the air, and with YouTube having seemingly become the battleground of choice for the voices of the respective parties, it has been easy to forget that nearly all of the issues underpinning the current budgetary battle have already been discussed and considered by both sides very congenially and very recently. Indeed, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform should have laid the groundwork for Mr. Obama, allowing him to take the initiative on long-term budget issues months ago rather than letting the Republicans under Paul Ryan take the reigns. However, the work of the Commission, until recently, has been largely pushed to the back burner.

According to its website,

'President Obama created the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to address our nation's fiscal challenges. The Commission is charged with identifying policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run. Specifically, the Commission shall propose recommendations designed to balance the budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 2015. In addition, the Commission shall propose recommendations that meaningfully improve the long-run fiscal outlook, including changes to address the growth of entitlement spending and the gap between the projected revenues and expenditures of the Federal Government.'

As the leadership of the country moves forward, attempting to wade through the politically muddy waters of various competing budget plans, it will be beneficial to all if some of the recommendations of this bi-partisan committee were recollected by both sides. Not only were competing sides of the aisle represented, but both houses of Congress, the business community and labor as well. Though the Commission's suggestions were brushed aside by the Obama administration before, they clearly guided his second effort at a 2012 budget. This is well, because it clearly provides some middle ground both parties can stand on.