Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) unveiled his FY 2013 budget proposal, which is based on the recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles Fiscal Commission. Under his budget, debt would fall from about 73 percent of GDP at the end of FY 2012 and a high of 79 percent in 2014 to below 68 percent in 2022 -- a significant improvement over the 85 percent of GDP the country would reach on its current path.

The Chairman's proposal, which reflects the policies in the Fiscal Commission report, would save over $4.3 trillion in new savings through 2022 from a combination of revenue increases from tax reform and spending cuts from the discretionary and mandatory sides of the budget.

"Senator Conrad deserves true recognition for not shying away from the kinds of changes sufficient in size and scope to tackle the country's rising debt," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "His leadership on the issue will be key to passing fiscal reforms this year, and his approach -- replacing the year-end fiscal cliff with a comprehensive debt reduction package -- makes all the sense in the world."

"Efforts to develop a comprehensive fiscal plan have truly become bicameral now," added MacGuineas. "Work to reach a bipartisan consensus on a fiscal plan large enough to stabilize the debt must begin now -- not later, not after the elections, but right now. The longer we wait, the greater the risk we take."  

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