Opinion

Lame-duck Congress can ignore fiscal commission — and should

Phil Kerpen President, American Commitment
Font Size:

Nearly every major media outlet is reporting that if the president’s fiscal commission gets agreement among 14 of its 18 members, it will force a vote in Congress.  They are wrong.

A little history is in order.  On January 26, 2010, the U.S. Senate decisively rejected the original Conrad-Gregg proposal for a fiscal commission.  Many Republicans voted no out of concerns that the panel would recommend unprecedented tax hikes — a concern that has been proven correct by the chairmen’s recently-released proposals.

On February 18, 2010, President Obama disregarded that vote and created his own commission by issuing Executive Order 13531.  But an executive order cannot prompt Congress to act.  It is merely advisory.

Therefore the final recommendations, with 14 votes, would carry no greater legal weight than the chairmen’s draft, and certainly no ability to prompt Congress to act.

I inquired with the fiscal commission about the claim that a final report would trigger votes in Congress, and they provided a letter from Vice President Joe Biden to Kent Conrad relaying a promise from Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to take up the commission’s recommendation before the end of this Congress.  But a promise from Reid and Pelosi — via Biden — is far from a binding fast-track procedure.  There are dozens of other issues on which Reid has promised votes in the lame-duck session that are unlikely to happen.

Moreover, as much as Reid can commit to a vote, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans can — and should — commit to block one.  There is no justification for Congress forcing through massive tax hikes and Social Security changes with limited public scrutiny under any circumstances. But to do it in a matter of weeks over the holiday season? In a body full of people who already lost re-election? Without the benefit of proper hearings or committee action?

Americans want a budget balanced through spending cuts and real reforms, not higher gas taxes, payroll taxes, and the reduction of their home mortgage interest and charitable contribution deductions.

The deficit commission is 18 unelected, unaccountable individuals who deliberated largely behind closed doors. Their approach to Social Security makes a bad deal for workers even worse by raising taxes and cutting benefits.  Real reform would raise benefits by harnessing the power of real investment returns.

Congress should recognize that not only is a lame-duck session no time to force through the commission’s recommendations, but it is an inappropriate time for any significant policy changes. This Congress should simply extend current policy on taxes and spending until the newly elected Congress can be seated and go home. The people’s elected representatives can take up the many serious issues the country faces next year, and do it the right way.

Mr. Kerpen is vice president for policy at Americans for Prosperity.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel