(FOX) – A sweeping proposal aimed at cutting $4 trillion from the budget over the next decade failed to win enough votes Friday to clear the commission President Obama entrusted to solve the nation’s daunting fiscal problems.
The report from the 18-member deficit commission won the support of 11 members, short of the 14 necessary to be formally adopted. The vote does not preclude Congress from taking up any of the dozens of recommendations on the floor, but it virtually assures the proposals will not be considered as a single package.
The final report called for a host of changes to tax rates, spending levels, government health care programs and Social Security. It has been the target of criticism from interest groups across the political spectrum for months, but the panel’s colorful co-chairmen had urged the public to disregard the claims made about their plan.
Despite falling short, Co-chairman Erskine Bowles praised the work of the committee Friday and pleaded with lawmakers to keep up the “adult conversation about a very serious subject.”
“It’s now up to the members of Congress and the members of the administration … to work together,” he said.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier agreed to hold a vote on the package if it cleared the commission, though Speaker-designate John Boehner had made no such pledge.
