National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility was created by President Obama to address the "nation's fiscal challenges" ("About the Commission") also known as the federal debt. Specifically, the goal is to balance the federal budget by 2015.

Today the co-chairs released the first proposal. The proposal comes as a Power Point slide show or a written explanation of each of the cuts equaling $200 billion. These cuts come through elimination or merging of departments, pay freezes, and much more. This is just the first pass, the commission has been charged with submitting a final report by December 1, 2010 and it requires approval of at least 14 of the 18 bipartisan members.

Now this was just released this afternoon, so the media coverage is just starting, but here are a few major newspaper's start on this story:

• New York Times: "Panel Weighs Deep Cuts in Tax Breaks and Spending"
• Wall Street Journal: "Panel Chairmen Recommend Cutting Federal Spending by $200 Billion"
• Washington Post: "Deficit Panel proposes curbs on Social Security, major cuts in spending, tax breaks"

Want to learn more the budget and debt? Check out the library's guide.