Deficit Panel Leaders Unveil "Moment of Truth" Plan (Full Text)
The leaders of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commission released their official plan for deficit reduction today, standing by their controversial proposals to double the gas tax, raise the retirement age to receive Social Security payouts, cut Medicare and lay off hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Deficit Plan Proves Offensive to All, Leaders Admit, but Plan Gets Some Support
Commission co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are presenting the final plan in a public meeting of the 18-member commission this morning. In order for the plan to have a serious chance to come up for a vote before Congress, 14 of the 18 commission members need to approve it. Simpson and Bowles acknowledged yesterday to reporters that their fellow commission members may not approve the report. However, they declared that their efforts have already been proven successful by the level of discussion about deficit reduction in Washington.
Bowles declared that the deficit is like a "cancer" that must be addressed immediately. The commission co-chairs underscored that point by naming their final report "The Moment of Truth."
Read the full report below:
