Politicians, don't 'Just Say No' to the Bowles-Simpson recommendations
(Read article summary)Politicians from the left and right have responded with knee-jerk objections to the report from the co-chairs of President Obama's deficit commission. It's time for the adult conversation to begin.
[Editor's note: The referenced CNN clip can be viewed here.]
Ronald Reagan’s budget director, David Stockman, was on CNN last night, telling it like it is about the tough choices necessary to rein in our nation’s currently-unsustainable budget deficits. (Here’s a related recent interview of him by 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl.) He’s no sitting politician, nor a political hack, of course. Among those who are, we are already getting the “attack and cower” reaction to the Bowles-Simpson recommendations that came out yesterday, as described in Lori Montgomery’s story in today’s Washington Post:
[T]he reaction was harsh in some quarters, particularly among liberals who have vowed to protect retirees from any reduction in benefits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the plan “simply unacceptable.”
