Following CRFB's theme of urging the Super Committee to "go big," a group of more than 60 former lawmakers, policymakers, economists and business leaders have signed a letter to the committee's co-chairs, urging them to exceed their mandate and put our country on a sustainable fiscal path.

Update: Click here to watch C-SPAN's video of the press conference.

Yesterday evening, President Obama addressed a Joint Session of Congress to propose his newest economic recovery measure -- The American Jobs Act. The President's bill would have a $447 billion ten-year cost, which the President says would be fully paid for in the proposal he will give to the Super Committee a week from Monday recommending the Committee exceed its $1.5 trillion mandate.

In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, CRFB put out its expectations for the Super Committee, urging them to Go Big! Given the severity of our debt challenge, enacting only $1.5 trillion savings over the next ten years is not enough. Compared to our Realistic Baseline, this amount would keep debt on an upward path relative to the economy, both over the medium-term and the long-term. 

Starting in just a few minutes, Business Roundtable (BRT) will host a forum on the deficit -- “Meeting the Challenges of Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction” -- wherein experts will look at the work facing the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee). The event will feature three panels, looking at the committee’s mandate, how the committee may meet their goals and what cuts or reforms might be in play, and tax reform and economic growth.

In a joint press release this morning, Super Committee co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) announced that Mark Prater will serve as staff director for the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction (click here for full list of members). Mr.

Quakes and ‘Canes – Washington and much of the East Coast were rattled by natural phenomena last week, with a 5.9-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday and Hurricane Irene storming up the coast over the weekend. Attention is now turning back to what will happen once lawmakers flood back into DC after Labor Day.

In a Bloomberg article, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) called for the Joint Committee set up by the recent debt deal to exceed its $1.5 trillion target for deficit reduction this decade. Specifically, he wants a $4 trillion plan over ten years.

The article quoted Warner as saying:

In the Christian Science Monitor, Donald Marron argues that the distinction in fiscal policy should not be between hawks and doves, but rather foxes and hedgehogs. What separates a fox and a hedgehog, you ask?

The three Democratic Senators on the Joint Committee--Max Baucus (D-MT), Patty Murray (D-WA), and John Kerry (D-MA)--have a lofty op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. In it, they talk about the need for bipartisanship and their willingness to contribute to a plan that helps solve the deficit problem.