What is the Gang of Six?
Before the weekend approaches and talks of debt ceilings and the likely end to the NFL lockout arise, you should know about the Gang of Six. Surprisingly, the phrase refers to the former subject, not the latter.
Led by Mark Warner, the Democratic Senator from Virginia, the Gang of Six is a group of six senators, three Republicans and three Democrats, chosen to devise a proposal to reduce the deficit and avoid exceeding the impending debt ceiling. The bipartisan makeup of the group is intentional in the hopes that if their proposal is met with approval by President Obama, it won’t get voted down by Congress.
Nothing has been easy, however, as one of its members, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), abruptly left the “gang” as a sign of opposition to a lack of spending cuts in the health sector. Once some additional cuts were added to the proposal, Coburn jumped back in. The other four Senators are:
- Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-Geor.)
- Mike Crapo (R-Ida.)
The idea is to get a proposal approved before the August 2nd deadline, and while positive steps are being made, nothing is assured in this political world. The latest news involves Kent Conrad asking for a 6-month extension, or effectively a short term increase to the debt ceiling so that lawmakers can fully ingest the debt reduction plan and not rush to judgment on anything. To date, President Obama has expressed no desire to increase the ceiling without a proper plan in place.
Feel free to form your own opinion on a nation struggling with $14 trillion in debt and be prepared to know the difference from the Gang of Six to the Original Six.
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Read on:
BusinessInsider.com – “Gang Of Six” Leader Calls For Temporary Debt Limit Increase
Politico.com – Gang of Six back from the brink
Politico.com – Gang of six breakthrough: Behind the scenes
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