Walden in Bend: ‘All Options On the Table’
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Monday in Bend he believes ?all options will be on the table? as a ?super committee? of colleagues deals with the super-tough challenge of coming up with a deficit-reduction plan that can pass Congress and win presidential support.
Answering questions on NewsChannel posed by KTVZ’s Facebook viewers, Walden said a lot of options the “super committee” of Congress will take up already have been proposed by earlier bodies, such as the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles committee, whose recommendations drew little public support when released.
“I think all the options will be on the table,” Walden said, including letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire, though he added he’s “not convinced that’s good for the economy, in terms of adding taxes in a time of recession.”
“But I think we need to look at closing loopholes,” he said, as well as “a more effective policy that creates jobs for America and brings revenue back to the U.S. from offshore. I think all of that will be on the table.”
Asked if he believes there will be immediate ramifications for those who get Social Security or veterans benefits, Walden said he doesn’t think so, noting the budget the House passed would not have affected benefits for those already receiving them.
“I think what the committee will look at is a long-range look,” such as raising the age Medicare takes effect to 67, like Social Security.
Walden said the actuaries for Medicare and Social Security both issue annual reports that “show both programs go broke (down the road), absent change.”
Asked by Adam Aaro if that can be accomplished before the 2012 election, Walden said the super committee has been given only until Nov. 23 to report back its recommendations, and then Congress has a month to vote, “or automatic cuts take place that are worse than anything this committee could come up with, I guarantee.”
Amid all the public turmoil and tumult, angst and anger over the debt ceiling deal, Walden said he believes some things have been overlooked, in what took both Republicans and Democrats to make happen.
?For the first time in the history of our country, we have linked more cuts in spending to a rise in the debt ceiling,? Walden said, well aware that there are many tall hurdles ahead, with much of the public wary about what more will be resolved.
On another topic, Walden said he was asked by Oregon?s Democrats in Congress to join him in voicing concern about potential post office closures, but he instead wants the agency to have the flexibility it needs to address its funding challenges.
Walden told KTVZ.COM that he?d prefer to ?spur creative discussion? about new ways of doing business, ?rather than bail out the post office,? which gets relatively little federal funding and instead relies on revenues to operate.
?If they are going broke, they need the flexibility in how they manage their business,? he said, noting the U.S. Postal Service is looking at replacing hundreds of the post offices slated for closure with a ?village post office? model in private establishments.
