Mention of Simpson Bowles Should Make Credit Union Ears Burn
As we move closer to the fiscal cliff – the combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January unless Congress and the President can agree on an alternative – we should all keep an ear out for references to Simpson Bowles.
It refers to a deficit reduction package put together by a bipartisan group of politicians and policy makers, including Erskine Bowles, a Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton, and Allan Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming. It proposed a deficit reduction plan that included $1.1 Trillion in savings by eliminating all corporate tax exemptions including, by implication, that for credit unions. When key commission members, including Paul Ryan, refused to endorse the proposal, it looked to be headed for that special corner of bureaucratic oblivion reserved for well intentioned commission reports that have no future.
But the proposal is enjoying a rise from the dead worthy of Lazarus. No one really has any good ideas for reducing the deficit that will keep them from loosing votes, and both President Obama and Mitt Romney say they support the plan. As Congress lays the groundwork for a lame duck post election frenzy, Simpson Bowles is one of the frameworks that will be used to begin negations.