The Hill Op-Ed: An Effective Fiscal Commission Must Put Taxes and Entitlements on the Table

Following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) expressed interest in appointing a bipartisan commission to address the nation’s long-term fiscal imbalance. That idea has now drawn support from the newly formed Bipartisan Fiscal Forum.

These are very promising developments, but only if both parties are prepared to put everything on the table. This is not simply a political imperative. It is a policy imperative as well.

The political imperative comes from the need to build trust across party lines. The policy imperative to put everything on the table comes from the sheer magnitude of our fiscal imbalance.