What CRFB Is Thankful For...

As Thanksgiving approaches, we at CRFB wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we are thankful for. We are most thankful for the Simpson-Bowles preliminary debt reduction plan, which has set a new bar in Washington for what serious fiscal plans should acheive, and led to a flurry of other plans. Additionally, over the past year fiscal year the deficit has come down (well, that’s good), lawmakers took some important first steps in controlling health care cost growth (very good, though it is problematic that the rest of the bill was so costly and at a time when we should be scaling back, not increasing, entitlements), and the economy has so far avoided a double-dip back into recession (also very good). And… let’s see….

Okay, now we’re scroungin’.

Have lawmakers acted in a bipartisan manner to tackle our fiscal challenges down the road head on instead of continuing to punt the issues further down the road? (Sigh) Nope. But at least we’re starting to see some real progress taking root on the specific kinds of policies and the magnitude of changes necessary to get our country out of the red and back into the black!

We hope that the growing momentum in Washington around the need to address our longer-term fiscal challenges continues gaining traction in coming months. Lawmakers must be prepared to offer their specific proposals for controlling the growth in U.S. debt, and they must ultimately come together around a plan that builds a consensus among both political parties. Those are our wishes.

We hope that everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving. See you next week!