The co-chairs of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commission, former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and former Bill Clinton aide, Erskine Bowles recently released a set of proposals designed to reduce the federal deficit and bring federal spending in line with what the taxpaying public as a whole can afford. Since their release, the proposals have been met with nearly universal condemnation from every sector of American society – from rich to poor, from young to old, both Republican and Democrat and everyone in between.
From the nearly universal outcries against their plan, I can only surmise that Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles have finally hit upon a solution that is (1) fair, (2) workable, and (3) demands an equal measure of sacrifice from every group in our country. Why else would everybody be angry at their proposal?
For too long, we Americans have deluded ourselves with the notion that the solution to our nation's financial woes lies in the sacrifice of every group but the ones we occupy. That viewpoint has left nobody willing to bear the necessary sacrifice and everybody willing to pass the buck onto the next guy. The real reason everybody is angry about the Simpson/Bowles plan is that it requires everybody to sacrifice – the only real chance we have to achieve financial stability.
Do I believe the Simpson/Bowles plan has any chance of being enacted into law? Nope, and that's too bad, because the Simpson/Bowles plan is a great first step, but that requires sacrifice, and that kind of sacrifice isn't something Americans are prepared to do.
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