Fiscal Commission Co-Chair Erskine Bowles Presents Compromise Plan to Super Committee
At the end of the just-concluded hearing of the Super Committee, Fiscal Commission Co-Chair and CRFB Board Member Erskine Bowles presented his top-line numbers for a Go Big solution that could represent a compromise between both the Republican and Democratic offers on the Committee as its deadline draws near. By taking into account what is reportedly being discussed in the Super Committee from the Republicans' and Democrats' plans, Bowles took the numbers and found middle ground, without offering the specifics, on what a plan could look like.
Using the top-line numbers that Bowles released, this plan would likely stabilize our debt and put it on a downward path, something that the Super Committee should be trying to accomplish.
| Budget Area | Deficit Reduction |
| Discretionary Spending | $300 Billion |
| Health Care | $600 Billion |
| Other Mandatory | $300 Billion |
| Chained CPI | $200 Billion |
| Revenue | $800 Billion |
| Interest | $400 Billion |
| Budget Control Act and CR Savings (Approximately) | $1,300 Billion |
| Total | $3,900 Billion |
For the health care savings, Bowles noted in the hearing that $100 billion in savings could come from raising the Medicare eligibility age, something that CRFB has said before would be a good idea.
CRFB recently made the argument that a Go Big approach can increase the chances for success for the Super Committee as opposed to an incremental approach. The blueprint offered today by Mr. Bowles illustrates how this could be possible, and it would be a significant accomplishment.