Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

Last year, my former Senate colleague, Pete Domenici, co-chaired the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force, which came up with a plan to reduce and stabilize the national debt and reform personal and corporate taxes.  The task force set forth measures such as freezing national discretionary spending (all spending that is not related to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid), reforming certain programs, and raising additional revenue.  While I did not endorse all of the proposals the panel advocated, I concur that a multi-faceted approach must be taken.

I also support many of the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which put very similar recommendations forward as measures that would help balance the budget and improve the long-term fiscal outlook of our country.

I do believe we need to freeze federal spending levels for many federal agencies and even make cuts over the long term in areas such as agricultural subsidies and defense.  We need to take a long, hard look at all government programs.

In order for all these to occur, we need to have honest and rational discussions about our financial state.  We have a lot to do before we are back on solid fiscal footing, and I believe we must all be prepared to make sacrifices and accept solutions that we might not prefer to personally embrace.