On May 18 Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., announced his withdrawal from the “Gang of Six,” the group of three Republican and three Democratic senators (including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner) who since January have been negotiating a bipartisan compromise game plan for controlling the nation’s ruinous debt. Sen. Coburn reportedly told the press that the six-member group was at an impasse and that Democrats were unwilling to do enough to cut spending, particularly on Medicare and Social Security.
Virginians of all political persuasions should urge Sen. Warner to continue working with the remaining gang members on this critically important effort. You can phone his Washington, DC, office at 202-224-2023 or submit a comment on his website.
Along with the recently completed work of the deficit reduction commission and Joe Biden’s deficit-reduction initiative, the gang of six has been one of three bipartisan efforts to solve this country’s fiscal problem before it becomes insoluble. It’s possible that the best recommendations that come out of these three groups could be combined into an actionable deficit reduction plan — but only if their work continues.
Those in Washington with the political will and courage to seriously address the complexities of this problem without fear-mongering or grandstanding should be commended. These complexities have been a long time in the making and they’ll yield to no easy or comfortable solution. Cutting earmark spending alone without touching defense and entitlement spending will not do the job nor, in fact, will spending cuts alone without an increase in tax revenues.
Democrats, Republicans and Independents will see various aspects of the issue quite differently. No one’s asking us to put these differences aside. But we do need to put them in perspective as we speak up to our elected officials about doing something about the deficit. Please make your voice heard.
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