Rating the supercommittee’s deficit reduction plan
By David M. Walker, Published: November 18
[en.wikipedia.org]
Time is running out for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The deadline for its recommendations to Congress is Wednesday, and news reports suggest that the panel could wind up punting on specific spending cuts while extending the process to tackle deficit reduction. Or it may recommend doing nothing at all — which, simply put, would be a total failure. If this happens, the congressional leaders of both parties should consider resigning their posts, and the members of the supercommittee should think about resigning from office or, at a minimum, announcing that they won’t seek reelection.
The goal of the panel has been clear since it was formed. Our country needs a substantive plan next week. When the panel’s expected report goes public, all Americans should be able to assess whether the members have done their job well. Here are five questions to determine the substance behind the headlines, and whether the panel really met its debt-reduction target.
1. How much deficit reduction over 10 years did the supercommittee recommend?
a) More than $3 trillion (30 points)
b) $1.6 to $3 trillion (22 points)
c) $1.2 to $1.5 trillion (15 points)
d) Less than $1.2 trillion (0 points)
2. How much presidential and congressional leadership support did the supercommittee have for its recommendations?
a) All four top congressional leaders and the president (30)
b) Three of the top congressional leaders and the president (20)
c) Two of the top congressional leaders and the president (10)
d) None of the above (0)
3. How meaningful were the proposed reforms?
a) Recommendations include major and comprehensive changes to social insurance programs (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) and tax reforms (15)
b) Recommendations include some modest changes to social insurance programs and tax-code reforms (10)
c) Recommendations include instructions for a process that will result in future reforms to social insurance programs and the tax code (5)
d) No recommendations were made, or recommendations did not address social insurance or tax reforms (0)
4. What basis did the supercommittee use to score its 10-year deficit reduction recommendations?
a) Current law after the August bill raising the debt ceiling (which assumes expiration of the Bush/Obama tax cuts, significant reductions in payments to physicians who accept Medicare, and cuts in discretionary spending) (15)
b) Current law preceding the debt-ceiling bill (assumes all of “a” except no reductions in discretionary spending) (10)
c) Current policy (assumes extension of Bush/Obama tax cuts, no significant reductions in payment to physicians, and a pullback of troops in South Asia and the Middle East (5)
d) President Obama’s proposed benchmark (Same as “c” except without a reduction of troops in South Asia and the Middle East (0)
5. Did the supercommittee recommend extending its life — or creating a similarly empowered committee — to better educate the public while pushing for greater deficit reduction over time?
a) Yes, with a specific and higher deficit-reduction goal and public education effort (10)
b) Yes, without a specific and higher deficit-reduction goal but with a public education/engagement effort (7)
c) Yes, with a higher deficit-reduction goal but no publiceducation/engagement effort (5)
d) No (0)
Scoring the answers
86 to 100: Excellent! We’ve started down the road toward fiscal security by making some tough choices.
70 to 85: Good. We did some necessary things, but this has to be just the opening salvo.
50 to 69: Poor. We plucked only the lowest-hanging fruit.
Less than 50: Fail. Why be in Congress if you’re just going to shirk your responsibility?