Let’s Start With the Facts

Have we hit rock bottom?

Less than two months after members of Congress shut down the federal government, Congress left town on a lengthy Thanksgiving break that has left the two chambers with only one week in December to legislate simultaneously and negotiate on a number of important issues (next week when the Senate returns). In light of an unprecedented rule change that reduces the ability to filibuster executive branch and nominees, coupled with the fact the budget conference has yet to produce top-line numbers for fiscal 2014 spending – Congress somehow appears more fractured than before.

In fact, budget negotiators fled the scene without even an outline for a deal, essentially guaranteeing the conference will not produce recommendations by the December 13 deadline. This was made quite clear when Speaker John Boehner said November 21 that the House would try and advance a new continuing resolution (CR) at the sequester level of $967 billion for discretionary spending set under the 2011 debt limit law absent a top-line number.

But while the optics are poor amid the theatrics that is now modern governing, one must ask: are we even having the right discussion? Are members of the budget conference – who have a unique opportunity to address major problems facing our nation like spending levels and the corresponding national debt – being honest with themselves and the America people when they relegate conversations to items like tax loopholes and waste, fraud and abuse?

In short, the answer is no. As a member of the Minnesota Chapter of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, I believe our nation faces serious problems in the name of entitlements and a shoddy tax code. That is where discussions must occur if we are going to get anywhere. Anything else is merely a distraction.

Take for instance Social Security, which for 30 years has held firm as the “the third rail” of American politics — too polarizing to touch despite the undeniable fact that we are quickly approaching a time when the program will permanently dole out more than it receives, making it inherently unsustainable.

Yet our leaders, Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar included, choose to live in some fantasy land where reelection matters more than acknowledging that simple fact. And the dirty little secret they know full well? Things will get far worse the longer we wait to address it. By 2036, the Social Security Trust Fund will be tapped out, and the program will, by law, cut benefits by 23 percent if no steps are taken to overhaul the program. Ditto for Medicare, where many of the same downfalls of a rapidly aging society, increased life expectancies and fewer workers compared to the number of retirees continue to drive the program towards death.

I believe that simple – not drastic – measures must be taken to remedy our entitlement programs. In doing so, we can get our fiscal house in order, put the debt on a downward path as a percent of GDP and leave a better America for future generations. Because despite third rail status for entitlements and the lack of discussion around them now, they constitute the majority of the budget.

A solid starting point is the Simpson-Bowles commission – led by former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles. The duo put forth recommendations to bring the federal debt under control over the long term, and places invaluable American security measures like Social Security on stronger financial ground. For example, by raising the age for benefits from 65 to 68 by 2050 to account for increased life expectancy, a program designed when life expectancy was 60 suddenly makes more sense.

As Congress continues to fumble along, it may seem like bipartisan consensus on contentious issues such as the budget and Social Security reform impossible, but they are not. We must stand together and urge Congress to have an adult conversation about the real budget challenges we face through Social Security, defense spending and healthcare. Anything else is unacceptable and more of a distraction.