On the recordApril 14, 2011
I believe that America should solve its biggest problems in a bipartisan fashion. It takes Democrats, Republicans and Independents working together to find the best solutions. This is particularly true of budgets, which determine so much of the future of our great Nation. Unfortunately, budget season is one of the most partisan times in Congress, despite the fact that the public has been demanding that we stop the bickering. I have been working hard to offer this House the chance to vote on a budget that is modeled on the President's Fiscal Commission, known as the Bowles-Simpson Report. I support this approach to budgeting because it is, so far at least, the only serious, bipartisan plan for reducing our runaway federal budget deficits. The Bowles-Simpson Commission received the support of Commission members as diverse as the liberal Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and the conservative Republican Senator Tom Coburn. The Commission received such widespread support because it did three things: Cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years; Shared the sacrifice: put every federal program on the table; and Provided a balanced approach: 2/3 spending cuts and 1/3 tax reform. While there are many other important features of the Bowles-Simpson Report, it is important to understand that budget resolutions never include detailed recommendations of any reform plan.…
