National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

I watched a portion of the first meeting of the National Committee On Fiscal Responsibility And Reform. What I heard is what I hope they can achieve: A bipartisan approach to resolving our national debt without any politically biased interference. In other words, place the future of our nation ahead of political ambitions. Can this be achieved? If it is not achieved, we will soon find ourselves in a catastrophic fiscal crisis. China has already said publicly and privately that they don't think our divided nation has the will to straighten out our fiscal budget. We must prove them wrong! If China stops financing our nation debt, we will be in deep trouble.

This Committee on Fiscal Responsibility And Reform surely will be attacked by both the extreme right and the extreme left. For the Congress members on this committee, there is no way to resolve our fiscal crisis without making many political enemies and losing votes. Clearly, the Oath of Office takes precedence in these proceedings.

Here are several areas the Commission touched upon:

1) The productivity gap: We could save millions of dollars by making public sector jobs as proficient as private sector jobs. Isn't that the primary goal of every business man running for office?

2) The tax gap: In the year 2001, 345 billion dollars was owed to the IRS, but was not paid. They did not mention what that figure was for the year 2009, but I suspect it was over a trillion dollars.

3) Medicare Fraud: Everyone knows that this contributes to the cost of Medicare and to our national debt.

4) Social Security: An estimated 50 billion dollars per year is owed to the IRS but not paid. Furthermore, the Social Security system is antiquated and needs to be modernized. For instance, if the husband dies, the wife only receives 50% of the deceased husbands social security income regardless of her working history.

5) Rebuild the middle class. The net-worth of households has dropped by more than 16 trillion dollars. That spells a huge tax loss for the IRS and contributes to the national deficit.

6) Restructure our tax codes to meet the challenges of our economic future. I hope to hear more details on this item in the future.

To find out more about the efforts of the National Committee On Fiscal Responsibility And Reform visit http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/

My opinion:

All Health Reform funds have already been appropriated and are mandatory. Therefore the House Appropriations Committee cannot freeze nor void those funds.

While the National Committee On Fiscal Responsibility And Reform are meeting to determine how to change the national fiscal course, the new Republican Representatives want to attempt a repeal of the Health Reform Law while knowing full well that this attempt will fail. Shouldn't our Congress be focused on job creation?