Michael Linden on the Deficit Commission

What is the deficit commission?

President Obama created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform by executive order last February. The commission is made up of 18 members, some of whom are from Congress, some of whom are outside experts, but members of both parties. The commission is tasked with addressing our medium- and long-term budget deficits and it's set to issue its report December 1 of this year.

What are the commission's goals?

The president set the commission two goals. One is very specific and one is a little bit more vague. The specific goal is to achieve primary balance by 2015. Primary balance is when total federal spending, with the exception of spending on the national debt, equals total federal revenues. The more vague goal is to meaningfully improve the nation's long-run fiscal outlook.

What are the most effective ways it can meet its goals?

The fiscal commission has a tough task because the projected future deficits are pretty big. The deficits are a product of too much spending on the one hand and not enough revenue on the other. So some people say we can address the deficits just by cutting spending or just by raising taxes. But the truth is we're going to have to do a little bit of both. Everything has to be on the table and the commmission needs to be very careful about what it chooses to cut because we don't want to negatively impact vital public services or investments in future economic growth. So the commission does have a tough task, but it needs to approach the task with a spirit of cooperation and real negotiation.