Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the president's fiscal commission and widely hailed as serious thought leaders on dealing with the country's economic problem, had strong criticisms for both men vying to be President of the United States for the next four years
Erskine Bowles, a former Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton, chided Romney's economic plan saying "the arithmetic just doesn't work."
When asked if Romney could justify his tax cut proposals, Bowles said “I don’t think he can and the math is easy to prove.”
Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming, was not surprised the president "walked away" from their commission's report that was released December 1, 2010. He argued that former President Bill Clinton would have made more of an effort to embrace the Simpson Bowles plan. "I know that he would've agreed," Simpson said, citing the bi-artisan support their report received from members of the commission. Clinton would have "wrapped [his] arms around it and taken it right into [his] heart."
On the 2012 race generally, Bowles believes it has become "a choice election," saying that Mitt Romney has not "given the American people the substance in his response to convince them that they ought to make a change today."
Simpson, on the other hand believes the election will be a referendum on the president and that Romney's chance will come from "Obama fatigue."
"I think people are going to vote against Obama, which will be to Romney’s advantage."
Watch the entire interview with Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles above to hear more from the economic duo, including some strong words of warning to his own party from Alan Simpson.
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1) Syria is a mess, Libya is a mess, Egypt is a mess ..and they STILL don't like us any better
2) % Trillion ... that's 5 TRILLION of new debt in 3 years !
3) UNEMPLOYMENT above 8% percent ... like forevuh !!!
4) Our credit rating is downgraded ..and is about to be downgraded AGAIN
THAT is President Barack Obama's record ... and He has not implemented ONE suggestion of the bi-partisan Simpson Bowles commission !
WHY doesn't David Gregory ask them ....WHY ???
I wonder if Romney would've donated so much to charity, without letting his peers know he is such a great guy, so his ego could be stroked, or had it not been tax deductible? Would he care to donate in anonymity? Believe it or not, there are people who do donate without recognition and without any other benefit than it being a righteous thing to do. But then, most people feel, "What good is it to give, if nobody knows I've done such a good thing?"
Romney is probably a better guy, than he thinks he needs to portray to the right. I fault him for not standing up to the extreme right, by being true to what he has shown he can be. The irony is that had he not floundered in his beliefs on healthcare, generosity, and other left leaning ideals, their would be little chance he would've ended up on the ticket.
They state that Medicare pays out more than what was paid in. It wouldn't have, if what was paid in had been invested, rather than spent by Congress because it was cash sitting there burning a hole in their pockets. It isn't the fault of those who paid their premiums thoughout their lives. The sum of any one insured premium, is never expected to cover an individual payout cost. Insurance companies invest their total income, to grow. At least, the part they aren't stuffing in their pockets as bonuses. . We can't expect them to be better, after all, our government taught them that practice.
I'm glad the President walked away from the Simpson-Bowles plan at that time. He didn't walk away because of being against deficit reduction, like some Republicans delusionally believe. He walked away because the Republican majority (TEA Party) within Congress voted against a mandated 3-1 austerity (cuts) to revenue raising measure "recipe" the President proposed. Republicans voted debt be reduced by a recipe of 100% austerity measures. Being that Coporate tax cuts from Bush are still in place from 2001. Guess who would be solely responsible for deficit reduction under a resurrected/reinforced retroactive Simpson-Bowles plan in present day, as things presently stand??? You've got it !!! The middle class/poor would solely be responsible for deficit reduction under Simpson-Bowles. Obama saw a future option that would be even better....a Re-election with him, as President with a platform to eliminate Coporate tax cuts, and a Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan after the election with a 3-1 deficit reduction plan (austerity-revenue) recipe in place paying down that deficit with increased taxation on the top 2% who have enjoyed tax cuts the last 10 years. Strategically, the President was smart to wait until after the election. Simpson is wrong this will lead to a referendum against Obama !!!
Simpson & Bowles have shown us the way to success in reducing the debt. Republican Alan Simpson is a national treasure.