National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

[5] Proponents of the plan praised it for hitting all parts of the federal budget and for putting the national debt on a stable and then downward path.

Prominent supporters include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon,[6] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (although at first she opposed the proposal),[7] then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,[8] and Republican Senator Tom Coburn;[9] Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen[10] has called for a deal based on the Simpson–Bowles framework.

[5][12] The original proposal for a commission came from bipartisan legislation that would have required Congress to vote on its recommendations as presented, without any amendment.

[16] In April 2010, Al Simpson was interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox News, covering tax-vs-spending balance in the commission's work.

[17] Simpson's latter appearance, particularly as it bore on entitlements, attracted comment from the Columbia Journalism Review[18] and James Ridgeway,[19][self-published source?]

"[21] The proposal was dismissed as "unserious" by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for its large cuts in income tax rates.

Union leaders such as Richard Trumka and several Democrats Representative Raul Grijalva rejected the plan saying it cut spending, especially on Social Security, too much.

[27] The proposal was better received by the Democrat-affiliated think tank Third Way,[28] the Progressive Policy Institute, Representative Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.),[29] Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)[30] and Harvard economist Greg Mankiw.

[32] The Concord Coalition, a non-profit and non-partisan anti-deficit activist group, applauded the report and labeled it a "promising start.

[1] Voting for the report were Bowles, Coburn, Conrad, Crapo, Cote, Durbin, Fudge, Gregg, Rivlin, Simpson, and Spratt.

[35] On March 28, 2012, Representatives Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) put a bill modeled on the plan, with, according to analyst Ezra Klein, "somewhat less in tax increases," to a vote in the House where it was rejected 382 to 38.

And yet the plan received bipartisan support from a majority of the Commission at a time where, up until now, fiscal leadership has been in short supply" Other prominent supporters of the plan include New York mayor Michael Bloomberg,[38] former Chairmen of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan,[39] Senator John McCain[40] and Democratic Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

[43][44][45] Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington criticized the deficit report for omitting a tax on the financial industry, as was recommended by the International Monetary Fund.

The National Journal noted that, "Hardly a day goes by in Congress or on the hustings without some lawmaker extolling Simpson–Bowles as the kind of potent fiscal medicine Americans must swallow if the country is to fix its debt and deficit problems, reform government and revive the economy.

In November, 2011, Simpson and Bowles submitted written testimony to the "supercommittee" charged with making budget adjustments by Congress, urging the 12 supercommittee members to "go big" toward the $4 trillion in savings the NCFRR had recommended v. the $1.2 trillion deficit reduction most discussed by the committee of congresspeople and senators.

In that regard, Simpson and Bowles stated, "the only thing worse than failure by the committee to agree on savings would be removing the 'sequester' [or 'trigger'] mechanism for automatic cuts".

[53] In addition, Simpson and Bowles have helped form two organizations that are working in part for their plan—the Moment of Truth Project[54] and the Campaign to Fix the Debt.