Judd Gregg: “Well, my biggest concern would be that we end up like the House of Representatives.”

I happen to think that if you're going to do budgets and you're going to pass budgets on a partisan basis, the budget becomes irrelevant.

My experience in these debates, the person who wins is the person who establishes himself with the American people toward the audience, this can be a huge audience, as being one reasonably likable.

I think Dr. Rivlin is absolutely correct on both points, and Simpson-Bowles did the same thing that Domenici-Rivlin did, which was to actually increase benefits to single women over 85, and low-income individuals.

The classic example of this is ObamaCare. It was pushed through on a partisan vote.