Fwd: Budget Bulletin: The Debt Commission, Health Care, and Obama’s Budgetary Game Plan

Budget Bulletin Your source for federal budget news and analysis Recent Updates Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Highlights Unsustainable Debt NEW VIDEO: Federal Spending By The Numbers National Debt Now Tops American Fears Featured Research The Debt Commission, Health Care, and Obama's Budgetary Game Plan By James C. Capretta When the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (commonly referred to as the "debt commission") held its first official meeting in April (the second meeting was held last week), all of the talk was of getting serious about putting the nation's fiscal house in order and that everything would be "on the table" for consideration. Unfortunately, the timeline for the United States to take corrective action may have already been shortened in just the past few weeks. What began as a slow-motion crumble of Greece's economic house of cards has now quite clearly become the triggering point for full-fledged examination of the risks posed by massive increases in governmental debt combined with aging populations around the developed world. No country is exempt from the scrutiny of the bond markets, including the U.S. Moreover, if Europe's economy slides back again into a deep recession as the debt crisis spreads, no part of the global economy will be completely spared from the fallout, including the U.S. The new health care law will only worsen the nation's fiscal situation, and despite President Obama's claim that "everything is on the table," it is clear that the Administration wants to lock in Obamacare and force the commission to look elsewhere. Stacking the Deck Given the serious risks to growth posed by rising debt and continued deficit spending, one might have thought that the first order of business for a newly elected President of the U.S. would be to address the budgetary challenge and put the nation's fiscal house in order. But that was not what happened when Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation's 44th President in January 2009. Instead, he chose to spend all of 2009 and the early part of 2010 pressing Congress to pass the largest entitlement expansion in decades. The Administration's decision to press for an expansion without a clear and credible plan to rein in cost escalation proved to be highly polarizing. In the end, the health law passed with votes entirely from the President's political party. >> Click here to read James Capretta's full report Chart of the Week Get more charts with Heritage's Federal Revenue and Spending Book of Charts About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400