Fix The Debt

Why yes, it is.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will debate a bipartisan amendment that calls for the President to submit a budget resolution that would stabilize the debt in the long term, consistent with the principles established by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform—also known as the Simpson-Bowles.

This amendment, sponsored by a bipartisan group of House members led by Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5), Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-VA-10), Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-5), and Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY-19) is a glimmer of sunlight in what has been an otherwise gloomy and partisan beginning of the annual budget season. Partisan budgeteering and fiscal face-offs so far have failed to produce the types of structural reforms and compromises needed to truly put our nation on a path to stabilize the debt. The Schrader-Wolf-Cooper-Gibson amendment highlights the need to address our fiscal challenges in a comprehensive and bi-partisan manner. 

Although the amendment may not be enacted in the end, let’s hope that this effort is just one of many bipartisan acts of leadership that will be needed over the upcoming months to enact a plan to put our nation on a solid path towards fiscal responsibility. Let’s hope that the rest of the House, Senate, and the White House follow this example and that the American people take notice.