America thanks you Monica Lewinsky!

[Divernan]

21. Erskine Bowles: O's choice to lead the chained/CPI Cat Food Commission

Bowles is a very safe bet to be part of a 3rd Clinton administration. All indications are that Bill and Hillary Clinton are of one mind on political issues, across the board. Erskine Bowles was yet another Bill Clinton "gift" to the Democratic Party, passed along to and enthusiastically accepted by Obama. Bowles served as Clinton’s chief of staff. He’s also 0-for-2 as a candidate for the U.S. Senate from North Carolina. Evidently Tar Heel State voters preferred a real Republican to the lite version.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Bowles-Simpson/Simpson-Bowles from the names of co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run".[1] The commission first met on April 27, 2010.[2] A report was released on December 1, 2010,[3] and although the Commission was supported by over 60% of the members (11 out of 18),[1] and an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, the report did not reach the 14-vote threshold required to formally endorse the blueprint and have it sent to Congress for approval.[4] Proponents of the plan praised it for hitting all parts of the federal budget and for putting the national debt on a stable and then downward path. Prominent supporters include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon,[2] . . . .Critics say that it would cut entitlement and safety net programs, including Social Security and Medicare. Prominent opponents include Paul Krugman,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_on_Fiscal_Responsibility_and_Reform

A Public Service Reminder: Simpson-Bowles Is Terrible

So, a public service reminder: Simpson-Bowles is terrible. It mucks around with taxes, but is obsessed with lowering marginal rates despite a complete absence of evidence that this is important. It offers nothing on Medicare that isn’t already in the Affordable Care Act. And it raises the Social Security retirement age because life expectancy has risen — completely ignoring the fact that life expectancy has only gone up for the well-off and well-educated, while stagnating or even declining among the people who need the program most.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/a-public-service-reminder-simpson-bowles-is-terrible/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0