Rep. Alan Simpson (former GOP senator from Wyoming) and Erskine Bowles (former Clinton budget director) produced a difficult but rational plan for dealing with the pernicious federal budget/debt/economy problem. It’s difficult because it asks people to leave their sacred cows at the door and discuss real problems like adults. An op-ed in the Washington Post on Sept. 30th lays out their thinking. It’s worth reading.
Cows (sacred or not) are messy indoors and it is difficult to get them through doors. It’s better to leave them outside. This simple concept seems to be lost on the other Washington.
While it’s hard to quantify exactly what will happen, reports we’ve heard suggest strongly that if the supercommittee doesn’t deliver a solution that can be adopted, the default cuts to the military alone could increase national unemployment by a full percentage point. Our Washington has a higher percentage of military workers than the average state, so we might bear more of the brunt of this single cut.
What are they thinking? Times are bad, let’s not make them worse.
