Orszag, Panetta Spoke On Budget Deficits Last Night.
Last night, Washington deficit hawks gathered on Capitol Hill to hear OMB Director Peter Orszag and former OMB Director and current CIA Director Leon Panetta at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget dinner. Orszag emphasized the future deficit reduction embodied in the recently enacted health reforms, particularly the new Independent Medicare Advisory Board, and expressed confidence that the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform will set the course for future deficit reduction when it reports on December 1, 2010. He acknowledged that the strength of the recovery needs to be closely monitored as stimulus spending declines, and he noted that a year ago it was hard to find anyone who expected as much GDP growth and renewed job creation as we have had since. Orszag expressed great appreciation for the support he received from Leon Panetta while working as an economist on the Council of Economic Advisers and since.
