National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

This article is part of a series on the
Budget and debt in the United States of America
Major dimensions Economy Expenditures Federal budget Financial position Military budget Public debt Taxation Unemployment Gov't spending
Programs Medicare Social programs Social Security
Contemporary issues Bowles–Simpson Commission Bush tax cuts Debt ceiling history Deficit reduction Fiscal cliff Healthcare reform Political debates Social Security debate "Starve the beast" Subprime mortgage crisis 2007–2008 financial crisis Debt-ceiling crises 2011 2013 2023 2013 budget sequestration Government shutdowns 1980 1981, 1984, 1986 1990 1995–1996 2013 Jan 2018 2018–2019 Related events 2023 Removal of Kevin McCarthy
Terminology Cumulative deficit + Interest ≈ Debt Balance of payments Inflation Continuing resolution
v t e

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles or Bowles–Simpson from the names of co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) was a bipartisan Presidential Commission on deficit reduction,^[1] 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".^[2] The 18-member Commission, consisting of 12 members of Congress and six private citizens,^[3] first met on April 27, 2010.^[4] A report was released on December 1,^[1] recommending a combination of spending cuts (including an increase in the Social Security retirement age and cuts to military, benefit, and domestic spending) and tax increases (including restricting or eliminating certain tax credits and deductions and increasing the federal gasoline tax).^[3]

The commission's recommendations were politically controversial.^[3] Under the executive order that created the commission, a supermajority of 14 of the 18 commissioners had to agree to a recommendation before it was sent to Congress for a vote.^[3] In a vote in December 2010, the commission fell short of that requirement, with only 11 out of the 18 commissioners (five Republicans, five Democrats, and one independent) voting to endorse the commission's blueprint.^[5]

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,^[6] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (although at first she opposed the proposal),^[7] then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,^[8] and Republican Senator Tom Coburn;^[9] Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen^[10] has called for a deal based on the Simpson–Bowles framework.

Critics on the left, such as Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky (a Commission member) and economist Paul Krugman, opposed the Simpson–Bowles proposal because it would cut entitlement and social safety net programs, including Social Security and Medicare.^[5][11] Critics on the right, such as Republican commission members Paul Ryan, Jeb Hensarling, and Dave Camp, and anti-tax activist Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, objected to the Simpson-Bowles proposal because it would raise taxes.^[5][12]