Simpson, Bowles support Obama plan on deficit

That group of bipartisan senators is working on legislation
that would be based on the recommendations of the fiscal panel led by Bowles
and Simpson.

Both men said that with all the plans on the table, the time
is soon coming when Congress will have to combine the best parts of all the
plans offered and take action.

Simpson said that “the next step is key, and that is the Gang
of Six.” But he praised Obama’s decision to tap Vice President Joe Biden to lead
the negotiations on behalf of the administration.

Simpson threw cold water on Obama’s call for a solution by
the end of June, calling an artificial deadline in Washington “a lost cause.”

“The goofiest thing you can do is say ‘by this date we’re
going to be there,’ ” Simpson said.

Obama praised the work of Bowles and Simpson, saying that
their report helped develop his own thinking on how to rein in the deficit.

“As they pointed out in their bipartisan effort, it is
important that we put everything on the table,” Obama said. “We’ve got to make some tough decisions when it comes to domestic spending. 

“We’ve got to look at everything, including our security
spending, in order to achieve the goal that we need. It’s important that
we look at our tax code and find a way to work together to not only simplify
and make the tax system fairer, but also that we use it as a tool to help us
achieve our deficit targets.”

The president’s plan, delivered in a speech Republicans
likened to a campaign address on Wednesday, has run into criticism from GOP
lawmakers. They said the president’s proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy is
a nonstarter.

Obama would raise tax rates for families with income above
$250,000 annually.

“It’s also important — and I think these gentlemen share
the view — that we can’t exempt anybody from these efforts; that it’s not
appropriate for us to ask for sacrifices from everybody except for the 2
percent of Americans who are doing best, but rather we should ask everybody to
participate in this effort to get our fiscal house in order,” Obama said
Thursday.