Deficit Gurus: Glass Still 'Half-Full'

Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson think that President Obama's proposed budget "goes nowhere close" enough in reducing the US deficit, but the deficit-reduction panel's co-chairs say they "see the cup as half-full." "[We] think there is the real possibility that a bipartisan deficit reduction plan can make it to the president's desk by year's end," write Bowles and Simpson in the Washington Post.

While praising Obama for "taking some positive first steps," much more is needed. "Sadly, the president does punt on the larger issues," such as health care costs and tax reform. "In the end, we are optimistic about the chances for fiscal reform," they write. "The political system doesn't always move quickly or steadily, but the magnitude of the challenges ahead will require it to act. Now is the moment of truth."