Hitting the $1.65 Trillion Target—Third Way's Path to "Super Committee" Success

With the “super committee” clock ticking, there’s a lot of distance to cover and not much time for the two sides to get together on a deal. But failure is not an option, so Third Way is submitting to the committee a real—and politically realistic—plan to achieve $1.2 trillion in net savings and enough deficit reduction to finance the President’s important jobs proposal.

Our 67-item plan includes $434b in new revenue, $549b in mandatory spending cuts and $420b in defense savings. It is not a wish-list for liberals or conservatives. And it will require both sides to dispense with intransigence and make some concessions. But it is also designed to hit the deficit target while allowing Democrats and Republicans to adhere to their principles and the spirit of their past pledges. It avoids the most contentious issues and is devoid of gimmicks.

A $1.2 trillion package won’t solve our deficit problem, and we would love Congress to reach a grand bargain. But success on the $1.2 trillion target will create momentum to address entitlements and revenue in the future. Our plan provides a map for building that momentum through bipartisan agreement.

Here’s an infographic illustrating some potential consequences of Super Committee failure.

Free for re-use with attribution. Check out our Issue library to find an embeddable link for your website or blog.

To read this Memo, open the attached PDF