Muscatine

On CNBC This Morning, Warren Buffett Said It Was “An Absolute Tragedy” That  Simpson-Bowles Was Ignored

CNBC’S BECKY QUICK: “So is that an argument for a tax code that is stripped  down the way Simpson and Bowles laid out?”

WARREN BUFFETT:  “Well it – you go back to what, you know, Kemp-Roth and  all that that too that they were working on that. I think what happened with  Simpson-Bowles was an absolute tragedy. I mean here are two extremely high-grade  people. They have somewhat different ideas about government but they're smart.  They're decent. They’ve got good senses of humor, too. They're good at working  with people.
They work like a devil for ten months or something like that.  They compromise. They bring in people as far apart as Durbin and Coburn to get  them to sign on and then they're totally ignored. I think that's a travesty.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 11/12/11)

Buffett: No Super Committee  Would Be Necessary If Simpson-Bowles Was Not Ignored

QUICK:  “Why are we starting over with a new congressional  committee?”

BUFFETT:  “Because we ignored the last one.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 11/12/11)

Obama Had Promised To Take  His Own Fiscal Commission Seriously

Obama Promised That “Once The Bipartisan Fiscal Commission Finishes  Its Work, I Will Spend The Next Year Making The Tough Choices Necessary To  Further Reduce Our Deficit And Lower Our Debt.” (President Barack  Obama, Remarks  At The Cuyahoga Community College West Campus, Parma, OH, 9/8/10)

• President Obama Said His Fiscal Commission “Can't Be One Of Those  Washington Gimmicks That Lets Us Pretend We Solved A Problem.”  “(President Barack Obama, Address  Before A Joint Session Of Congress On The State Of The Union,  1/27/10)

President Obama’s Budget Did Not Opt For “The Bold, Comprehensive  Approach To Reining In The Fast-Growing Federal Debt That His Own Fiscal  Commission Has Said Is Needed, Now.” “With the budget he is to unveil  Monday, President Obama has not opted for the bold, comprehensive approach to  reining in the fast-growing federal debt that his own fiscal commission has said  is needed, now.” (Jackie Calmes, "A Cautious Approach Seeking Bipartisan  Appeal," The New  York Times, 2/13/11)

• After Shelving Their Recommendations, NBC’s Chuck Todd Asked The  President “What Was The Point Of The Fiscal Commission?” TODD: “Thank  you, Mr. President. Everything you have talked about—tax reform, the entitlement  reform, two parties coming together—just happened in December in your fiscal  commission. You had a majority consensus to do all this. It's now been shelved.  It seems that you have not taken—I guess my question is what was the point of  the fiscal commission?” (President Barack Obama, The  President’s News Conference, Washington, D.C., 2/16/11)

• CNN’s Jessica Yellin: “The president ordered a deficit  commission forum. They recommended overhauling entitlements, and then the budget  doesn't touch it. What was the point  having a debt commission then?”  (CNN’s “The Situation Room” 2/14/11)