If you put a $100 bill in a jar every time former Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson said “bulls–t,” you might have a better shot at solving the nation’s debt problem than Congress does.
I say might — not because Simpson is pushing 80, but because for the first time in a long time, Congress is poised to take a serious look at the issue. Turns out all it takes is holding the national economy hostage and putting the power bestowed upon 535 lawmakers in the hands of a dozen.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Late last year, Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles presented a deficit reduction plan that called for slashing nearly $4 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years. It was a serious, bipartisan attempt to help right the federal government’s fiscal condition.
Their recommendations can serve as a treasure map of sorts for members of the so-called “super committee” of 12 lawmakers charged with taking another $1.2 trillion out of the budget as part of last week’s debt-ceiling delirium.
In an interview this week, Simpson offered a blunt but good-humored assessment of the plan crafted by Congress, terming the overall deal a “disappointment.”
“It just doesn’t go far enough. It’s a weak effort. It doesn’t satisfy either side and if you’re honest with yourself, you know damn well you didn’t get there,” he said. “It’s a strange cobbled-up thing, and it’s just not there.”
What’s needed, he said, is a plan that includes entitlement reform and “revenue gained by getting rid of spending in the tax code.”
I termed that “tax revenue,” but Simpson said that was a “flash word” that would distract from the conversation. Regardless, there’s about $2 trillion of it in the Simpson-Bowles plan.
Simpson said he didn’t think that the committee would be able to get past any 6-6 ties and that he expected House leaders to fill it with members who will be rigid when it comes to sticking with the party.
He said that a key measure of whether the committee will work would be if either Democrat Harry Reid or Republican Mitch McConnell appoints a member of the Senate’s Gang of Six (or eight, if you’re Sen. Michael Bennet).
“If they don’t, then you know it’s stacked for defeat,” Simpson said.
And where does he see things going?
“The differences between this committee and our commission are two things . . . there won’t be any of this bulls–t of ‘We need to study this for a while now.’ . . . We’ve given them the actuary studies, the whole works.
“And the other thing is they have this stinger, there’s gonna be a bee sting in the butt. When they get to that and they can’t do it, suddenly they have to cut [$1.2 trillion] — half from defense and half from domestic and entitlements. And that will be a wakeup call — a minor alarm clock.”
The clock is ticking. He’s not bullsh–ting.
What is that thing?
If you read the print version of The Post this, you may have noticed the placement of some odd, Space Invaders-like boxes. They’re not a nod to the video game of my youth. They are called QR codes and they’re a nod to the emerging power of smartphones.
If you own one, download an app that lets you scan QR codes and see where it takes you.
We’re using the codes to link to extra opinion content that is available on our website.
E-mail Curtis Hubbard at chubbard@denverpost.com
