senator who was co-chair of president obama's simpson bowles fiscal commission alan simpson himself so first thank you so much for being on the show today senator it's a pleasure to the northwest college which is a wonderful institution i was on the border for years not all right it could be all right and we're happy that they hosted you to do this interview now let's talk simpson bowles because i have to say senator simpson after reading it i can understand why it didn't get very far in washington at least in this political climate there is literally something for every special interest to hate a sacred cow if you will defense spending is on the table in title meant an overhaul of the tax code do you think there was ever a time or a congress or a president when this plan would have been taken up. i have no idea but they'll kick the can down the road forever so you know what's new finally. and then they played their little game last august a year ago and put together a she question that was supposed to turf that's a six hundred billion dollars chop with no common sense to add on to sho

hence, the name, simpson-bowles.ything, everything on the table and the result was a truly bipartisan plan to reduce america's debt by $4 trillion over ten years through spending cuts and tax reform. now you can see that green line is sort of where our debt is going over the next decades to come. and if the commission's proposals are followed, that is the blue line. that's what would have happened. under the six-step plan, federal workers would have been subject to a three-year pay freeze and the commission would also reduce the oversaul size of the government workforce through attrition. the comprehensive tax plan involved would lower personal income and corporate tax rates while broadening the base of people who pay taxes. capital gains and dividends would be taxed as ordinary income. now back door government spending for certain industries would also be removed. things like the government subsidies for the ethanol industry. a portion of the money raised there would go directly to paying down long-term debt. now as

this week the two men who tried to tackle the fiscal crisis last year, simpson-bowles plan is back in the decision 2012 spotlight now. welcome both. it's like going to the mall with justin bieber hanging out with the two of you. but senator, there's something to that, you go around the country and talk in great detail about what you proposed. what is the reaction you get? >> people are thirsting for somebody not to give them bs and mush and erskine and i gave them numbers. we don't have power point or charts, we just tell you where your country is. the trajectory of debt and deficit and interest is as same as portugal, iraq, iran -- greece. >> poland is still in -- i won't go -- but it's sad and we take questions. we don't filter the questions. they can ask anything they want. they can be from aarp, seniors, teachers and they'll give us a standing ovation, thirsting for somebody to tell them the truth where their country is going. >> republican and democrat do that who really care about each other. >> you don't think we're getting that in this debate in this campaign season? >> i don'

he disavoided simpson-bowles and offered no alternate. we took what we liked in simpson-bowles and added more reforms. i didn't support simpson-bowles is because it didn't address the primary driver of our debt which is health care programs. health carry entitlements going bankrupt. i don't want to pass a bill to fix the fiscal crisis when i know it doesn't fits the fiscal crisis. that is why we took the good ideas and combined with necessary reforms that prevented that crisis. that is what mitt romney and i propose. we need three things: pro growth economic policies. that is what regulation and energy policy is about. spending cuts. we prepared lots different spending cuts. also, critical entitlement reforms that are market based that give people more control over their lives. it doesn't make changes for people in or near retirement but reforms programs if my generation so they are this for my generation when we retire. that is how you get ahead of the problem and prevent european-like austerity. >>neil: a lot of this reminds me of europ

go to it if you want more information on the simpson/bowles plan or if you would like to sign senator petition calling on congress to pass a comprehensive long-term plan by july 4th, 2013. while you're online, visit cnn's america's debt challenge page to see the coverage of this critical issue. >>> next, former labor second robert reich says the gop's economic plan is a disaster that will actually cost millions of jobs, not create them. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. ari'm fine.y, babe? ♪ ♪ ♪ with a subaru you can always find a way. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. >>> mitt romney has not provided much detail for hi

how about asking the man who commissioned simpson-bowles how he feels about simpson-bowles? and, you know, he won't answer the question. but he puts out a nice two-minute ad that says he's going to reduce the debt by $4 trillion but never tells us how. he's going to create a million manufacturing jobs but never tells us how. the fact of the matter is, david, when i hear you talk about mitt romney, i think you're talking about president obama. >> i want to end with this. as you know, political reviews are tough things sometimes, and there was a tough review for you as the keynoter at the republican convention. this was from politico, john harris and tim mack in reviewing your speech. the headline, christie delivers a primetime dud. they write, there's no mistaking what a successful keynote speech for chris christie would have looked and sounded like. there would have been an electric reaction from the crowd in the convention hall. it would have been followed by waves of effusive media commentary about how people had just heard the future of the republican party. there is no m

simpson-bowles is a balanced approach. in the ryan plan, they just cut $4 trillion and want to give a $5 trillion tax cut to the upper income. >> you also have no partner. we can't balance the budget with no revenue. and both mitt romney and his running mate have said they will offer zero revenue. >> ifill: let me ask you this, mayor reed and mayor parker. this is a convention where everyone is talk about an election. everyone is talking about battleground state. your state is not one. your state is not one. your state is not one. how do you know your priorities are even being heard in an election like this, mayor parker? >> again, cities are functioning very well at a very high level. people continue to move to cities. cities are where you go to find a job, to find an education and build your own future. cities are thriving with or without help from the government. we just need-- actually in large instoonsz to stay out of the way. one of the things you see mayors united on is we'd like to see direct funding to major u.s.

crazy of the media when people talk about the simpson bowles commission recommendation there were no commission recommendations can you that was part of that a little bit there were co-chairs this was a commission that was set up by president obama and if we had was it was actually eighteen i mean if they if they were but if they had received those kind of supermajority their proposal would have gone to congress what they proposed for social security was the overall budget deficit and of course we argued social security shouldn't be part of that because it doesn't add to the doubt but they they would have decimated social security and that's not hyperbolic to say that they really would have destroyed. over a number of you knows that is one of the reasons why jan schakowsky just basically she refused to vote for it the president and other leading democrats have very obliquely talked about praised the bowles simpson proposal after after the the whole larger suggestions imploded mr simpson mr bowles ok here's our unofficial suggestion that was that was that identical to the original pro

simpson bowles was a missed opportunity. we're now looking at a fiscal cliff that could result in another downgrade of our credit and that's a big problem for the economy. chris: the president seems to be -- everybody think he is wants to have done that. he wants to have agreed to simpson bowles but find a way of kissing it without marrying it. he wants to say i'd like to do it, i just can't do it because the republicans won't join me. if they won't join me, i'll be hung out there. will there be any movement with by the president toward a simpson-bowles compromise? will he take the lead to try to do that or let it hang out there for a while. >> not before election day. he thinks he'll get a simpson bowles like deal after winning re-election where he thinks he'll face a chastened republican party having lost the house and the senate. chris: the president believe he is can beat what he thinks is a right-leaning party this november. what he considers the grownup the jeb bushes and other moderate republican conservatives will co

i mean, he said he was looking at the principles of bowles/simpson and simpson/bowles that those principlesncluded pro growth tax reform across the board, getting rid of the deduction. he opposes that. he wants to raise taxes on the well to do. he demagogued on the middle class tax cut as did mr. biden. he sort of said, you know, government is not always the problem. you know what, government in my opinion is frequently the problem. government gets in the way of commerce, government gets in the way of investment, government gets in the way of success and the rate of return. he's a man of government. i didn't see anything different today. he's still a man of government and republicans who oppose that, they're going to hurt the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and they're going to have dirty air. i just don't agree with him, i'm sorry, i'm not in his camp. >> you know, john harwood, it seemed like the only big applause lines that he had this evening were when he said, surplus, try a tax cut, deficit too high, try another, feel a cold coming on, take two tax cuts, roll back regulation and call

the simpso simpson-bowles recommendation? >> i think the simpson-bowles stuff might.n awareness of debt and where we are as a country in terms of the debt and deficits i have never seen as long as i've been covering politics. there is a level of concern, i would say alarm that is unlike anything i've seen. it's always the second most cited issue when you ask voters what are you concerned about. in some places like swing state, iowa, the top issue. i think when the president tries to own simpson-bowles and distance himself from its recommendations, it does, it does look sneaky. i think just to follow up on the point that charles made. if you want to talk about audacity, the president has night as its remits to taxes once again made a pitch to raise taxes on the wealthy. they restated the position today, the white house did. it is important to remember the president himself has twice said on videotape that raising taxes in a downturn will hurt the economy. including raising taxes on the rich in a downturn will hurt the economy. he is on video saying that. so i would say

here is what he said about the simpson-bowles debt commission. this is again paul ryan skating around the truth. >> he created a new bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. >> "they, they," the commission. he was on the commission. the fact he leaves out is he actually sat on the commission. paul ryan, that guy there, and voted against his final urgent report and many believed helped bring it all down despite dick durbin voting for it. here's a guy who's able to go in front of the national audience debuting himself and presents himself as someone who isn't at all responsible for the failure of simpson-bowles blasting the president, ignoring the fact that he voted against it. >> first and foremost, he's speaking only to his devoted collection of people who cast votes and ballots on behalf of what he believes. he's not speaking to the total american people. that's why he thinks he can get away with all of the misrepresentations. in addition there, too,

. >> you could never bring yourself to support simpson-bowles. >> simpson-bowles... the only numbers in simpson-bowles that are clear apart from the page numbers are that it wants to take 18.5% of g.d.p., present rate of full employment tax up to 21%. that over the next ten years is a $5 trillion tax increase. $5 trillion tax increase. the spending restraint in simpson-bowles is wren in haiku. it's not terribly clear. >> rose: but it was clear enough for some republicans to support. and the objection of congressman ryan supporting it was limited. >> congressman ryan... >> rose: he supported a lot of it. >> oh, i support all of the conversation about the spending cuts in simpson-bowles. >> rose: and the tax reforms you supportd? >> as long as the rates reduced so that it's revenue neutral. but they wanted to have tax reform that would be a trojan horse for $5 trillion in higher taxes. that was a big no-no. that was not going anywhere and the reason why they've never written simpson-bowles down in legislative language is that it would become clear to republicans and th

simpson-bowles, bowles-simpson.he commission put together by president obama to find a solution to the country's fiscal problems containing a mix of spending cuts and tax increases designed to reduce the budget deficit to 2.2% of gdp. everyone praised it and then everyone ran away from it. two congressmen stepped up and introduced a plan in the house. >> this is the only bipartisan way to solve the nation's problems. this is the only budget that has a chance of getting through both the house and the senate. >> we have been viciously attacked from the left and the right and when you know you have a good deal is when the left and the right are pounding the snot out of you. >> well, their efforts got them a total of 38 votes including themselves. joining me now are the two congressman who introduced the simpson-bowles based budget. j 38 votes. 38 votes. congressman cooper, how frustrating was that moment? i remember when you introduced it. i thought for sure there would be 80. i think we knew it wouldn't pass. what hap

i think he'll say that he's for the bowles-simpson plan to deal with the debt. i think you'll see -- >> so you think all of a sudden you'll have a compromiser, all of a sudden everyone will hold hands? >> i think the voters will send a message in the house and senate races that they want both parties to work together. >> what would that somebody. >> the message will be -- >> more democrats, more republicans? >> no, i think it's going to be a very, very strong message that says we've had enough of you guys or we'll have a third party. i think you will see a fair number of incumbents thrown out. >> who ends up with the senate? >> i think democrats barely keep the senate. >> how about the house, it becomes less republican? >> yeah, i bet you democrats get ten new seats. but i think those elected will be reformers. this is a crucial time in history. i see the president getting -- it will still be close. i think romney will do well in the debates. challengers do well in the debates. >> hispanic vote. they come out? the young people? >> they'll come out again. now, ge

or some form of simpson-bowles. he hasn't. if the president were to say that i understand there is shared sacrifice, not just rich or middle class, everyone has to be in the pool on this one, so, if he were to say we will focus on entitlement restraint and entitlement reform, we will focus on tax reform, we will take the focus on a softer approach to regulation. >>neil: but he has not done that. i guess hope springs eternal but is this a last opportunity? coming on a day where we have reaped $16 trillion in the hole. >>guest: we have 63 days before the election. we have a major campaign speech coming up where the president will focus on that. as far as the debt, i think the debt, governor wilder said, there is enough blame do go around. >>neil: but it is not good to happen under your watch. >>guest: no, but business people do not look in the rear view mirror, they look forward. >>neil: they do not have a lot to look forward to because they are not spending. >>guest: they will not. >>neil: what does it take to spend?

simpson-bowles, you mentioned him. they say the math simply doesn't add up in the romney plan and he won't tell us how he thinks it does. >> well, listen, the country is hungry for bipartisan compromise, david, i agree with you especially after the last four years of intense partisanship from this white house. and mitt romney is the only candidate in this race who has a record of showing he knows as an executive how to forge bipartisan compromise. as the governor of massachusetts, over 85% of his legislature was democrat, he made things happen. he will make things happen as president of the united states and will forge the right type of compromise to get this done and that's the way it's going to work. >> do you think this governor romney should be in a situation where he's actually prepared to deal with revenue, to raise revenue, to go against his party if it's part of a package that achieves compromise and the kind of reforms that are necessary, along the lines of simpson-bowles which you mentioned? >> what we did in

government at a quick pace meanwhile we have heard politicians keep uttering this word simpson bowles simpson bowles or i really should say they've been hurling it around like a political football but nonetheless this was a proposal put forward by a fiscal commission that president obama appointed it put sacred cows on the table on both sides to cut the deficit so needless to say it didn't get very far in washington but we will speak with one part of simpson bowles in just a few minutes we have former senator alan simpson to tell us why this plan is still so important today and why it's not getting anywhere now more and i mean it might have been a few years ago but this is something that seems to be referred to time and time again by lawmakers battling it out talking about financial regulation and you know all those decisions that they like to fight over thanks so much lauren. that's going to do it for us for now but for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america or check out our website r c dot com slash usa. culture is that so much a given to give each vi

he put simpson/bowles in place. he said the framework of simpson/bowles is extraordinary. congressman ryan didn't vote for it when hifs he was on the deficit commission. the president last summer made a very bold effort working with speaker boehner to try to come up with a grand bargain. he pushed it very hard. he was very disappointed that he wasn't able to get the republicans to agree to even a penny of revenue. simpson/bowles has even more revenue than the president was proposing. we couldn't get them to go along with the grand bargain. how are we going to get them to go along with simpson/bowles? the president, of course, is willing to work with the republicans. this is an issue that's very important for our generation, our children's generation, our grandchildren's generation. we have got to get our fiscal house in order. the president is absolutely committed to doing that. >> your reaction to bill clinton's speech? >> oh, my gosh. it was extraordinary. president clinton, his ability, his oratory ability really making a very strong case for the president. and putting

. >> well, you mentioned bowles simpson, sir, and you voted against that. >> i like that part of bowlesimpson, but you talked a good game, but you don't deliver the goods. what do you-- >> no, here is what people do. if you don't like the plan that someone's put on the table. put your plan on the table and pass that budget through congress, and mitt romney offered a plan, president obama hasn't done any of that. he disavowed bowles simpson and offered all the it i haves -- alternative plans. the even bowles simpson, it didn't address the primary driver of our debt. health care programs. starting going bankrupt. i don't want a pass a bill to fix the fiscal crisis when i know it doesn't fix the fiscal crisis. >> neil: he's saying it didn't go far enough. charles payne, ben stein, dagen mcdowell and adam lashinsky and charlie gasperino. >> i think it was a good place to start, to ryan's point, it was with respect to social security or medical spending, you know, and the ideal spending cap. if we adhere to spending caps we wouldn't be in this position in the first place, so i take his point

this point about simpson bowls very important and should not be glossed over. the president presented a plan unlike what paul ryan said at the convention. the president has a plan that followed the balanced framework of simpson bowl. the president proposed some tough cuts. but we also have to ask folks a the very high end of the income scale to pitch in more. if you ask nothing of them and romney and ryan don't want to ask for one more penny for the deficit, what it means is simple math. you hit everyone else that much hat # harder. hits seniors on medicare. student and education. guts our infrastructure investments. that's why an independent group said their tax plan would raise taxes on middle income families in order to finance another windfall tax break for people like romney. so that's their plan. >> congressman, there appears to be some issue over the weekend with your party. from o'malley to others, not being on one accord. you don't have to answer things all the same, but when asked, is your life better off now than four years ago, you and i both know g

, because you've made none, none of the tough choices simpson/bowles has made.n't made those choices either. but i digress. next question. and this is a real, easy yes or no question. the president has said the government will no longer seek to deport 8 hundred thousand of these immigrants. would you repeal this order if you became president? >> well, it would be overtaken by events, if you will, by virtue of my putting in place a long-term solution with legislation which creates law that relates to these individuals such that they know what their setting is going to be. not just for the term of the president but on a permanent basis. >> i won't keep on about this, but just to make sure i understand, would you leave this in place while you were worked out a long-term solution or would you just repeal it? >> we'll look at that setting as we reach that, but my anticipation is i would come into office and say we need to get this done on a long-term bases. not this kind of a stopgap measure. >> okay. so there's no way you're going to answer whether you're repeal it