http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/11/17/more-deficit-commission-reports-when-we-need-a-growth-commission-report/http://bipartisanpolicy.org/news/press-releases/2010/11/bipartisan-policy-center-task-force-unveils-bold-comprehensive-plan-solv"A bipartisan task force of former top federal officials and other leading Americans unveiled a bold, comprehensive plan to solve the problem of soaring federal deficits and debt while dramatically simplifying taxes for businesses and individuals, strengthening Social Security, and creating up to 7 million new jobs.
The plan, entitled, Restoring America’s Future, from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force, co-chaired by former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici and former White House Budget Director Alice Rivlin, would reduce the debt to below 60 percent of the economy, reduce annual deficits to manageable levels, and balance the “primary budget” (everything other than interest payments) by 2014. By doing so, the plan would resolve a crisis that, if not addressed, will raise the risks of an economic crisis and weaken the nation over the long term.
“The two of us share strong beliefs that America must learn to live within its means, that the current budget path endangers the future of our country, and that bipartisan action is urgently needed,” Domenici and Rivlin wrote in “An Open Letter to the American People” that accompanies the plan...
...Specifically, the plan would rein in federal health care spending by reforming Medicare and Medicaid; ensure that Social Security can pay benefits for the next 75 years; find savings in other entitlement programs; freeze both defense and non-defense discretionary spending for several years; establish a 6.5 percent Debt Reduction Sales Tax; and enforce all of these savings through strict budget rules..."