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H.R. 5779 – Fiscal Commission Act
A Plea for Understanding the Commission’s Mission
Four key proponents of a bipartisan, bicameral fiscal commission within Congress to identify and report on policy recommendations to improve the long-term fiscal condition of the federal government recently issued an op-ed piece intended to call attention to the importance of the Bill’s targeted efforts. Authors of the piece–Sens. Joe Manchin (D) and Mitt Romney (R), and Reps. Bill Huizenga (R) and Scott Peters (D)–stress the growing concerns over debt servicing, noting that “interest payments are on pace to exceed both defense and non-defense discretionary spending” in a few years and that annual appropriations negotiations have been relegated to a fight over only about a third of government spending.
With the commission’s formation facing skepticism, and specifically concerns that the commisson;s actions could be detrimental to Social Security and Medicare, the op-ed authors seek to allay concerns by suggesting that their efforts are intended to find “solutions that preserve these essential programs for Americans who today are in their 20s, 30s and 40s.”
Check out the full piece, which appeared in The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register and previously appeared in The Hill, here.