Van Hollen Sees Simpson-Bowles as the Framework for a Deal

Former Super Committee member and House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) indicated in a recent Bloomberg interview that the Simpson-Bowles plan may be a the basis of a debt deal that avoids the fiscal cliff. Appearing on Bloomberg Government's Capital Gains, he said that while he didn't agree with every detail of the plan, he thought the general framework of phased-in spending cuts with additional revenue would become the basis of a bipartisan plan.

In addition, Van Hollen was hopeful that Democrats and Republicans would be able to come to an agreement on a deal that would find enough savings to put off the sequester until a grand bargin could be reached. On the expiration of the 2001/2003/2010 tax cuts, Van Hollen was less confident a deal could be reached in the lame duck session, especially since a part-of-the-year extension of tax changes would be administratively difficult.

It is good to hear members of Congress like Van Hollen agree with the general principles of Simpson-Bowles. Ultimately, a bipartisan comprehensive debt deal will require additional revenues but also entitlement reform and gradual spending cuts. Only with sacrifices from both parties will we be able to come up with a plan that can put our debt on a downward path.

The full interview can be found here.