$4 Trillion Deficit Deal Possible: Lawmakers

A $4 trillion deficit-reduction deal is possible, say two influential lawmakers, one a Democrat and one a Republican, with both saying they’re willing to compromise over their previous positions on spending and taxes.

Representative Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat who last year voted against a plan put forth by President Barack Obama’s debt commission, said this time he’s prepared to back something close to it as long as about one-third of the plan includes higher revenue.

A “balanced” plan is “something that Americans can look at and feel it and say, ‘You know what, I think I gave -- put a little bit of skin in the game, but so did so-and-so,’” Becerra, a member of a congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend.

Representative Mike Simpson, an Idaho Republican who sits on the House Budget Committee, said he’s willing to accept tax increases as part of a major deficit-reduction package.

Simpson, also speaking on “Political Capital,” said he favors a plan cutting between $4 trillion and $6 trillion over the next decade and that while he’s “personally, fine” with $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in new revenue, he might consider a lower ratio.

“You can’t do it with just entitlement reform, you can’t do it with just discretionary spending and you can’t do it with just tax increases,” said Simpson. “You need all of those on the table.”
‘Not Balanced’

Becerra said a 3-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to new revenue, “is not balanced,” while signaling he might be receptive to a 2-to-1 ratio. “Show me the two and the other one,” he said.
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