Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who is both a member of the president’s debt commission and chairman of the Senate’s budget committee, says that Obama should follow up on his commission’s findings by forming a summit of which he should be part of. The Democrat senator, along with Judd Gregg, proposed forming the committee back in 2007. It was designed to make sure each of the president’s cabinet members was presently sitting during the meeting. Heading the commission as chairman would be the secretary of treasury, while the Office of Management and Budget head shall be one of the 18 members.
Conrad says that they did not get enough votes from senators to make the commission a reality back then. Later, the president was able to create the commission by virtue of executive order but unfortunately did not include his chosen representatives. The Democrat senator said during an interview on Fox News Sunday that while he had filed his proposal with cabinet officials, they are yet to give him a response on the matter.
Just this Friday, the commission ended with a 7-11 vote in favor of a controversial proposal that aims to cut budget deficit by around US$4 trillion. The cut will be spread over the next decade through major changes in the tax code and cutting down spending for administration projects. That includes Social Security and Defense. However, the vote had fallen short of getting the 14 required votes to enable recommendations to reach Congress for an up-or-down voting process.