Economist's View

Mark Thoma transmits some good advice from Robert Rubin:

Economist's View: Robert Rubin urges Democrats to define the nation's fiscal problems broadly and not to fall into the trap of focusing solely on Social Security and Medicaid in formulating a solution:

Rubin Urges Democrats to Reject Bush Social Security Proposal, Bloomberg: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin urged fellow Democrats to reject President George W. Bush's plan for a bipartisan commission to examine solutions to the mounting costs of Social Security and health care. Rubin... said Democratic leaders in Congress should instead insist Bush join them in a "fiscal commission" to discuss all options for cutting the budget deficit, including rolling back Bush's tax cuts. "It only makes sense substantively, in my judgment, to get together around this if everything is on the table, including the tax cuts," Rubin ... said... "Otherwise you have a one-sided approach to what is a very large problem."...

Rubin is--as he almost invariably is--right. We don't need an Entitlements Commission, we need a Fiscal Commission