Window To Reduce Deficit Is Closing, Says "Gang Of Six" Member

By Rachel Christiansen

Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) says its now or never if lawmakers want to pass a meaningful deficit reduction plan.

Conrad, a member of the Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of Senators that are working behind closed doors on a plan that can attract a substantial number of votes, said during a taped interview with ABC News this week that the group doesn’t want its efforts to go to waste.

“I certainly hope this leads to a result because otherwise I’m going to have wasted five years of my life,” Conrad said.

With the federal deficit slated to top $1.5 trillion this year, and debt expected to reach $14.3 trillion as soon as next month, reigning in the budget has become a top priority for lawmakers on both sides.

Conrad’s group, which also includes Democrats Mark Warner (Va.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Republicans Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Mike Crapo (Idaho), has been developing a proposal that includes a blend of spending cuts, revenue increases and entitlement reforms. Sources familiar with the plan say that it will somewhat resemble a plan put forth at the end of last year by President Obama’s fiscal commission.

Though the White House is reportedly behind the “Gang of Six” plan, nearly all House Republicans have thrown their weight behind a plan put out by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The two plans differ in that Ryan’s would cut more discretionary spending and would drastically alter the structures of Medicare and Medicaid, while preserving tax cuts for the wealthy and tax subsidies for big businesses. The Senate plan would end the Bush tax cuts on top earners and would eliminate several popular tax deductions and credits that benefit nearly all taxpayers.

Republicans in the group, however, are treading extremely lightly on the revenue aspect. In a radio interview with conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham on Thursday, Coburn said that raising tax rates are a non-starter for the GOP members.

“There’s no plan to have a significant tax hike on anyone,” Coburn said. “I don’t think there’s any of the three of us who will embrace tax hikes.” However, Coburn hinted that the group’s plan may ask more of the wealthy.

“Will some people pay increased taxes? I’m sure they will.”

With the Gang of Six set to unveil its plan sometime in mid-May, Conrad is pushing lawmakers to decide soon on a way forward.

“You are on the precipice of very serious consequences if we don’t [reach an agreement]. If it doesn’t happen this year, it won’t happen next year.”