Fiscal Commission’s Plan Won’t Have Votes To Head To Senate

Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY).
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The fiscal commission, which already delayed its vote by two days due to internal conflicts, will fail to get the required 14 votes needed to send its report to Congress.

Former SEIU President Andy Stern is the fifth member of the 18-person panel to announce his opposition to the report, making reaching the required supermajority impossible. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) are also opposed.

The report, authored by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, raised eyebrows when it was first released for its suggestion on everything from tax policy reform to Social Security cuts. Schakowsky, in fact, released her own competing plan, which included money for stimulus and many discretionary spending cuts — especially for the military. But few of her suggestions made it into the final report issued this week, and Bowles and Simpson’s plan is now headed for failure.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: