Simpson-Bowles weigh in on fiscal cliff deal: Not enough catfood

The erstwhile Catfood Commission, now recreated as "Fix the Debt," is bemoaning the "missed opportunity" of inflicting real pain in the fiscal cliff curb deal.

'The deal approved today is truly a missed opportunity to do something big to reduce our long term fiscal problems, but it is a small step forward in our efforts to reduce the federal deficit. It follows on the $1 trillion reduction in spending that was done in last year's Budget Control Act. While both steps advance the efforts to put our fiscal house in order, neither one nor the combination of the two come close to solving our Nation's debt and deficit problems. Our leaders must now have the courage to reform our tax code and entitlement programs such that we stabilize our debt and put it on a downward path as a percent of the economy.

Washington missed this magic moment to do something big to reduce the deficit, reform our tax code, and fix our entitlement programs. We have all known for over a year that this fiscal cliff was coming. In fact Washington politicians set it up to force themselves to seriously deal with our Nation's long term fiscal problems. Yet even after taking the Country to the brink of economic disaster, Washington still could not forge a common sense bipartisan consensus on a plan that stabilizes the debt. [...]

These future negotiations will need to make the far more difficult reforms that bring spending further under control, make our entitlement programs sustainable and solvent, and reform our tax code to both promote growth and produce revenue.

Of course they see the bright side'this agreement was just a bypass on the way to real austerity, and they still have the next two months to push their punitive agenda. And push it they will, because they see very likely success. Raising the Medicare eligibility age and Social Security cuts in the form of a chained CPI are fully in the potential mix of cuts, handy bargaining chips. One way or another, Simpson and Bowles are going to get their catfood agenda imposed on us.