Jim Costa: “It has been one week since bipartisan discussions over the $4 trillion ``grand deal'' broke down yet we have seen little…”

“It has been one week since bipartisan discussions over the $4 trillion ``grand deal'' broke down yet we have seen little progress toward a smaller package of spending cuts that would allow us to raise the debt limit and begin getting our fiscal house in order. It's easy to point fingers and cast blame--and there's certainly plenty to go around--but fundamentally I believe the reason we have seen so little progress is that the American people aren't looking for a short-term solution or a small gesture. They want a ``grand deal'' that will put us on a fiscally responsible path today and for the future. We all have our own ideas about our nation's fiscal priorities, but what is missing in today's discussion is a bipartisan, centrist approach to addressing our nation's fiscal health, such as the recommendations by the Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. No one party has all the answers, and no one party can do this alone. It's time to put our economy back on the path to fiscal sustainability, and this House should consider the Simpson-Bowles recommendations that aim to accomplish that goal by reducing spending by $4 trillion over 10 years, lowering tax rates, ensuring the solvency of entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security and stabilizing the debt. To compliment the $4 trillion Simpson-Bowles plan the House should also consider a clean balanced budget amendment. H.J. Res.…”