CRFB Analysis Shows Why Going Big Could Improve Chances of Success

With the Super Committee deliberating and the window for committee submissions passed, CRFB has released an analysis and a corresponding slide show making the case for why Go Big could in fact improve the chances of the Super Committee's success in achieving at least its $1.2 trillion savings mandate.

The analysis walks through the political constraints of achieving a smaller savings package, showing that Democrats are unlikely to agree to serious entitlement reforms while Republicans are unlikely to agree to new revenues apart from comprehensive tax reforms and serious spending cuts. The answer? Go Big! And it's hard to see how Going Big would not quickly bring the Super Committee upwards of $1.5 trillion in savings.

As CRFB president Maya MacGuineas stated in a release accompanying the analysis:

Withough reforms to each area of the budget, including critical entitlement and tax reforms, it's difficult to see how the Super Committee could navigate the political constraints to achieve its target of at least $1.2 trillion in savings...

A big solution to debt reduction is a win-win. It can improve the chances of the Super Committee succeeding while also offering the best possible way to put debt on a downward path this decade.

The paper also goes into two other reasons why Going Big could improve the chances of success: shared sacrafice and the political and economic benefits of putting debt on a downward path.

Click here to read the full paper, and here for our slideshow summing up the arguments: