Bipartisan Deficit Reduction and Tax Reform
Taking Bipartisan Action on the Deficit
In 2010, Senator Warner and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) began hosting bipartisan meetings to educate themselves and other members of Congress about deficit reduction and tax reform. Since then, their bipartisan, bicameral coalition has grown to 45 Senators and more than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that support a comprehensive "grand bargain" on the deficit.
MAY 2012 Original "Gang of Six" members Senator Warner and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) appeared on CNN's Out Front to discuss the coming "fiscal cliff."
NOVEMBER 2011 Senator Warner helped to organize a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 45 Senators and 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that gathered to urge the debt supercommittee to “go big” in addressing America’s $14.5 trillion national debt.
Past Updates
APRIL 2011 Senators Warner and Chambliss and the Atlanta Rotary Club hosted an event in Atlanta, GA to update business leaders on their plan to cut the deficit. CNN, The Associated Press, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on the event.
MARCH 2011 Senators Warner and Chambliss and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce hosted an event in Richmond to update business leaders on their efforts to cut the deficit.
The Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and local papers the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Virginian-Pilot covered the event.
More photos are available here.
JANUARY 2011 The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot profiled Senator Warner's work on the deficit.
DECEMBER 2010 Senators Warner and Chambliss announced they would introduce a bill based on the report from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, in order to "get the ball rolling" on tackling the debt. The Washington Post editorial page praised the Warner-Chambliss coalition.
In addition, the Senators organized back-to-back Senate floor speeches by 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans that urged swift action on debt reduction and tax reform.
The full 53 minutes of floor speeches are available here.
Plan Summary
What they're saying
Washington Post: Gang of Six: New hope in the crisis
The Gang of Six may have turned, belatedly, into a mob. That is good news with a dangerous twist. It’s good news that a significant number of senators, from both parties, appear poised to sign on to a 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction framework released Tuesday and hailed by President Obama as “broadly consistent” with the grand bargain on spending cuts and tax increases that he had been trying to broker. READ MORE.
New York Times: The ‘Gang of Six’ and Signs of Sanity in Congress
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of six senators released a plan to cut spending and raise tax revenues that aims to reduce the nation’s deficits by at least $3.6 trillion over the next decade. READ MORE.
USA Today: Gang of Six offers balanced approach
On Tuesday, though, the adults were back. The Senate's "Gang of Six" Republicans and Democrats — off the radar since key Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma took a break in May — re-emerged with their own plan to save $3.7 trillion over 10 years, including deep spending cuts and about $1 trillion in new tax revenue. READ MORE.
Wall Street Journal: The Gang of Six Play
Grand bipartisan budget deals are one of the great come-ons of Washington politics. They rarely work out, and when they do they usually benefit only the political class. The latest offer from the so-called Gang of Six Senators might be an exception, if—and this is a big if—its inviting generalities can be matched by useful details. READ MORE.
Virginian Pilot: Hail, hail: The Gang's still here
Legislators would do well to start with the ambitious deficit-reduction plan given up for dead weeks ago and improbably revived by the Gang of Six senators Tuesday. READ MORE.
Los Angeles Times: Ganging up on the debt
Their effort shows that liberals and conservatives can bridge their differences to make significant headway against the deficit. If only the debt-ceiling talks were imbued with the same spirit of compromise. READ MORE.
Dallas Morning News: Gang of Six proposal is last, best hope in debt ceiling battle
And that’s why the proposal that started to emerge Tuesday from the bipartisan Gang of Six senators is the last, best hope for using this painful debate as a way to control spending and reform the tax code. This compromise plan could get us past default concerns and finally rein in a national debt long past $14 trillion. READ MORE.
Bloomberg: Gang of Six Deficit Plan Could Save the Day
Six stalwart U.S. senators delivered yesterday the outlines of an intelligent and ambitious deficit- reduction proposal. It is, as President Barack Obama succinctly said, “good news” -- at a time when some is needed. The bipartisan “Gang of Six” plan takes the sensible policy framework of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal-reform commission and turns it into a workable package for the Senate to consider. READ MORE.
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Gang of Six Offers a Path Forward
If enough lawmakers are willing to stepup to the plate along with the Gang, it would renew our chances ofgetting a ‘grand bargain’ sufficient to reassure markets that we can putour fiscal house in order and to reassure the public that Washington isstill fit to govern. This is how Washington is supposed to work—let’shope it does. READ MORE.
Bipartisan Policy Center: Statement by Former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici and Former White House Budget Director Alice Rivlin
We admire these Senators for having the courage to propose a serious, bipartisan plan. Their proposal, like the recommendations of our own Task Force at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Bowles-Simpson Commission, recognizes that all parts of the budget must contribute to any long-term solution, including defense spending, tax expenditures and entitlements. READ MORE.
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, Moment of Truth Project: Pray for the Gang of Six
These six Senators -- who have worked tirelessly over more than 7 months to agree on a long-term debt reduction plan based on the recommendations of the Fiscal Commission -- have shown tremendous courage, leadership, and determination in putting the national interest ahead of partisan interests. READ MORE.
American Business Conference: CEO's Support Gang of Six Budget and Tax Framework
We call on businesses and association leaders representing companies of all sizes to join with other Americans in aggressively advocating intelligent change of the sort the six Senators have proposed. The is no higher domestic priority than reducing federal spending and reforming our tax code. READ MORE.
