budget commissions
The latest from Gene, at his must-read "The Government We Deserve," is some advice on making the budget commission a success. My favorite:
Start developing your story line and displays now, not when you're about to issue a final report. One of the worst mistakes I see so many commissions and projects make is trying to develop a story line during the last few days when decisions are finally made. The story it tells the public should be accurate and fair, but it also needs to be well told to garner its support. And that requires a lot more work than an eleventh-hour all-nighter. As an example from tax reform in the mid-1980s, the distributional tables used before that time would have made it look like reform would hurt the poor (because people with huge incomes and huge tax shelters were being measured as "poor" when their shelters were netted against their other returns). As coordinator of that study, I set up a group to figure out how to change that display early on; there wouldn't have been time at the end.
Read the whole thing.
The deficit reduction commission created early this year by President Obama (officially known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, or NCFRR)) after seven Republican senators who had co-sponsored the legislation killed the Conrad-Gregg commission they say they preferred by voting against it, opens for business this week.
The commission will meet tomorrow, April 27, in a public meeting that will feature testimony by former Congressional Budget Office Directors Bob Reischauer and Rudy Penner. Unless you're staff for a commission member or part of the press pool, you won't be able to attend the meeting. You will, however, be able to watch it from the comfort of your own home on the White House website.
Historical note: That probably means that this commission will be the first in history whose meetings are viewed by someone on an iPad.
Health care passed on Sunday.
The three people House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-SF) named all voted for health care.
The three were only officially named after they didn't just commit to supporting the bill but actually voted for it.
Any other questions?
The three Pelosi selections are:
- Rep. Paul Ryan (WI)
- Rep. Dave Camp (MI)
- Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX)
- Sen. Judd Gregg (NH)
- Sen. Michael Crapo (ID)
- Sen. Tom Coburn
With the possible exception of Coburn, this list was predictable. It includes the senior GOP members of the House and Senate Budget Committees and the House Ways and Means Committee. Crapo is six down from the top of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Republican leader Mith McConnell (KY) had to skip over two comparative moderates -- ranking member Chuck Grassley (IA) and Olympia Snowe (ME) -- to get to him, but he's also on budget. Coburn is not a member of budget, finance, or appropriations, but he is a gadfly (read: pain in the ass) when it comes to spending and can be expected to talk about earmarks and pork at every possible opportunity.
- Honeywell International Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Cote
- Former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alice Rivlin
- Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union
- Former Young & Rubicam Brands CEO Ann Fudge
An interesting group in many ways. Other than Rivlin, no budget people and a strong outsider feel.
We're still waiting to see which three House Democrats Nancy Pelosi names and whether House and Senate Republicans select anyone.
