On the table: Debt commission leaders say tax increases and spending cuts will be considered
By APSunday, April 25, 2010
Debt panel leaders say everything is on the table
WASHINGTON — The leaders of President Barack Obama’s bipartisan debt commission say everything is on the table, from tax increases to spending cuts, as they prepare this week to begin meeting.
The panel’s Republican co-chairman, former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, says the commission will gather reliable statistics related to the debt and then consider ways to deal with it.
The Democratic co-chairman of the commission, Erskine Bowles, says tax increases will be considered even though Obama pledged during his presidential campaign not to raise taxes on a person earning less than $200,000 a year.
Obama has asked the 18 members of the commission to propose a plan by Dec. 1.
Simpson and Bowles appeared on “Fox News Sunday.”
