Statement on President Obama’s Consideration of Bipartisan Commission as a Solution to Nation’s Fiscal Challenges
“We are pleased to read in today’s Wall Street Journal that the Obama Administration is giving serious consideration to establishing a special commission to addressing our nation’s large and growing structural deficits and debt burdens. Employing such an extraordinary approach that engages the American people with the truth and the tough choices and will make a range of social insurance, other spending and tax-related recommendations for action by the Congress is essential.
“Based on recent public opinion polls commissioned by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an overwhelming majority of the American people support the need for a special commission. Our foundation will release the results of our latest public opinion survey on Monday, November 30.
“America’s debt and deficit crises deepen with each passing day. A properly structured bipartisan commission would engage the American people about the true financial condition of our country and the need for a range of comprehensive reforms. This commission can lay the groundwork for the ‘grand bargain’ President Obama has said he wants to achieve during his presidency.”
About PGPF
PGPF is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key economic challenges threatening America’s future and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. For more information, see www.PGPF.org.
Further Reading
Despite Decades of Warnings, Depletion of Social Security’s Trust Fund Is Getting Closer
The depletion dates for Social Security and Medicare’s Trust Funds are rapidly approaching.
Lifting the Debt Ceiling Has Been Paired with Budget Reform in the Past
Earlier this year, the United States once again hit its debt ceiling, which is currently capped at $31.4 trillion.
U.S. Healthcare System Ranks Seventh Worldwide — Innovative but Fiscally Unsustainable
Spending on healthcare in the United States has far outpaced other major healthcare systems without yielding better outcomes.