Former Sen. Alan
Simpson (R-Wyo.) lashed out at members of his party on Sunday, slamming them for
their unwillingness to compromise on proposed tax increases.
In his
characteristically colorful style, Simpson told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that
Republicans' rigid opposition to new tax revenues has hampered productivity and
diminished the chances of reaching an agreement with Democrats on debt
reduction.
"You can't cut
spending your way out of this hole," Simpson, who was appointed as co-chair of
President Obama's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 2010, said.
"You can't grow your way out of this hole, and you can't tax your way out of
this hole. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, we tell these people. This is
madness."
The former
senator, along with debt commission co-chair Erskine Bowles, developed a plan in
2010 for bringing down the top tax rate and lowering the deficit by repealing a
number of tax cuts and credits. The initial plan, commonly known as
Simpson-Bowles, was mostly ignored by lawmakers. A bipartisan budget modeled
after their report was rejected by the House earlier this year. Huffington
Post
During the
interview Sunday, he expressed frustration with his party's focus on social
issues, as well as the ability of outspoken figures like Americans for Tax
Reform head Grover Norquist to drive the conversation.
digg.com "I guess I'm
known as a RINO now, which means a Republican in name only, because, I guess, of
social views, perhaps, or common sense would be another one, which seems to
escape members of our party," Simpson said. "For heaven's sake, you have Grover
Norquist wandering the earth in his white robes saying that if you raise taxes
one penny, he'll defeat you. He can't murder you. He can't burn your house. The
only thing he can do to you, as an elected official, is defeat you for
reelection. And if that means more to you than your country when we need
patriots to come out in a situation when we're in extremity, you shouldn't even
be in Congress." digg.com The failure on
Capitol Hill to agree on the parameters of a sustainable fiscal vision has been
the topic of lots of finger-pointing. As the conventional wisdom goes,
Republicans refuse to budge on taxes and Democrats refuse to budge on safety-net
programs. Democrats, however, speak often about the need to cut entitlement
spending as part of a balanced deal, while Republicans maintain that new taxes
are unacceptable. tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com The
Simpson-Bowles commission's work comprised of policies worth trillions in
long-run deficit reductions by way of deep domestic spending reductions, cuts to
safety-net programs like Medicare and Social Security, and new tax revenues.
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com
SM/KA
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