Kasich, Panetta: The Fiscal Responsibility Act is only a first step toward truly responsible spending and debt reduction 

Passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, although it falls far short of its promising name, is welcome news. The product of a narrowly divided Congress, this legislation is not nearly as transformational as some declare, but it did push the urgency of deficit reduction on to center stage and take the prospect of a default off the table by extending the debt limit. But to achieve true transformation and make the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s legacy live up to its name, much more needs to be done.

But first, credit is due to President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and the bipartisan group of policymakers who voted for this bill, in doing the hard work of achieving a compromise that will help the Federal Reserve fight inflation and begin making progress toward addressing our budget challenges.

As former members of Congress with deep roots in the budget setting process, both of us were involved in the 1990s in bipartisan efforts to successfully balance the federal budget and achieve a surplus. We understand the political challenges involved but we also believe that if the bipartisan leadership of the nation was willing to work together to avoid a default, that same leadership should be willing to take on a record $31 trillion national debt.

For that reason, we agree with McCarthy, when he insists that the Fiscal Responsibility Act was only a first step in curbing our nation’s unsustainable debt trajectory and the right next step is to form a bipartisan commission to begin to educate the American people about our nation’s poor fiscal health.

Surely there will be those who voice skepticism in forming a commission, questioning the need for another governmental body when committees are already in place. Yet establishing a bipartisan commission to raise public awareness and concern about the severity of our budget challenges is the best and most realistic mechanism to make needed progress in the future.  Moreover, until we have a bipartisan consensus on how to address entitlements, politicians will continue to use Social Security and Medicare as a political weapon. 

Whatever its composition, public or private, an effective commission must have members with the stature and voice to explain to the American people in a transparent, bipartisan, and honest way the dangers of increasing debt, the rising cost of servicing that debt and its harm to our economy. Only when the public truly understands the problem, presented in stark, unbiased terms, will they coalesce around solutions and move Congress to embrace responsible fiscal policies.

To have real effect, a commission must also cast a much wider net than the issues under discussion during this most recent debate, which focused on just a small fraction of the budget. Their charge must be to review the entire budget, with all areas on the table, including the looming — and disastrous — crisis in Social Security and Medicare funding. 

Lastly, after the commission’s work is complete, they should reconvene to develop solutions for Congress to consider well in advance of the next debt-limit deadline. Governing by crisis is no way to run the world’s largest economy. Creating a bipartisan commission offers an opportunity to build on the work of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, better communicate our long-term debt issues, and finish the job of securing a sustainable future for generations to come.

John Kasich served in Congress as a Republican from Ohio from 1983 to 2001. He was chairman of the House Budget Committee from 1995 to 2001. Leon E. Panetta served as a Democrat from California in Congress from 1977-93. He chaired the Budget Committee from 1989-93. He was director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993-94.