Alan Simpson – News Stories About Alan Simpson - Page 1

A Simple
Alan Simpson
Question Took
Unexpected Turn

OPINION

Mar 18, 2025 12:10 PM CDT

A Simple Alan Simpson Question Took Unexpected Turn

Senator lobbed a softball to SCOTUS nominee Robert Bork, who muffed it

(Newser) - The death of former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson last week got veteran Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse thinking about a simple question he once asked of court nominee Robert Bork, and how Bork's answer helped doom his cause. It came during Bork's 1987 confirmation hearing, which wasn't...

Senator Who Was Part of the 'Stupid Party' Dies at 93

Senator Known
for His Wit
Dies at 93

OBITUARY

Mar 14, 2025 10:04 AM CDT

Senator Known for His Wit Dies at 93

Moderate Republican Alan Simpson of Wyoming also was known for his bipartisan outreach

(Newser) - Former US Sen. Alan Simpson, a political legend whose quick wit bridged partisan gaps in the years before today's political acrimony, has died at 93. Simpson died Friday after suffering a broken hip in December, per a statement from his family and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West,...

Simpson, Bowles
Back With Sequel
to Deficit Plan

Feb 19, 2013 7:55 AM CST

Simpson, Bowles Back With Sequel to Deficit Plan

They want to slash another $2.4T, far exceeding Obama's goals

(Newser) - If you liked the first Simpson-Bowles plan, good news! Washington's favorite bipartisan hypothetical budget slashers have come up with a sequel of sorts, proposing $2.4 trillion in new (and probably politically impossible) deficit cuts over the next decade, Politico reports. How would they get there?

They'd slash

...

Alan Simpson:
Tax Hikes for Rich,
or Drinks on Me

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Dec 9, 2012 12:17 PM CST

Alan Simpson: Tax Hikes for Rich, or Drinks on Me

Erskine Bowles increasingly confident now that parties 'starting to tango'

(Newser) - It's just another Sunday teetering on the fiscal cliff, with the Hill reporting that both Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are indicating that tax hikes for the rich were a foregone conclusion. “I think Erskine and I both agree that if anybody out there who is, quote, rich...

Time to Stem Tide of Special Interest Campaign Cash

alan simpson

Apr 25, 2011 12:44 PM CDT

Time to Stem Tide of Special Interest Campaign Cash

Special interest groups 'distort elections': Alan Simpson

(Newser) - In 2010, special interest groups and lobbyists in Washington alone gave nearly $300 million to political candidates—"more than the donations of 32 states combined," notes Alan Simpson, writing for Politico . And 2012 is sure to be worse, unless we do something about it—now. Special interest money...

Alan Simpson Disses Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog, Enema Man

Cranky Alan Simpson Disses
Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg

Mar 8, 2011 6:49 AM CST

Cranky Alan Simpson Disses Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg

And the enema man, because kids these days...

(Newser) - Alan Simpson, known far and wide for his hysterical and/or inappropriate penchant for speaking bluntly, is still very cranky about the federal deficit, and appeared on Fox News yesterday to do what cranky old people do: Yell at the kids. And the old people, reports Politico . “This is a...

Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson: Deficit Commission Co-Chairs See Glass as 'Half-Full'

Deficit Gurus:
Glass Still
'Half-Full'

OPINION

Feb 20, 2011 7:31 AM CST

Deficit Gurus: Glass Still 'Half-Full'

Bowles and Simpson see time to improve Obama budget

(Newser) - 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...

Alan Simpson: Give Deficit
Fairytales the 'Green Weenie'

Feb 6, 2011 1:20 PM CST

Alan Simpson: Give Deficit Fairytales the 'Green Weenie'

Deficit panel chair full of colorful language in latest interview

(Newser) - Alan Simpson, the deficit commission co-chair famous for ever-so-subtly calling Social Security "a milk cow with 310 million tits," was back on the teevee today calling for serious cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, the aforementioned milk cow, and defense, reports the Huffington Post. Some highlights from his comments:

"

...

Deficit Chiefs Unveil Plan, With New Tax Holiday

Dec 1, 2010 9:46 AM CST

Deficit Chiefs Unveil Plan, With New Tax Holiday

Plan would raise retirement age, cut tax exemptions

(Newser) - Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles formally unveiled their 59-page plan to cut the deficit yesterday, and it’s much the same as the draft proposal floated a few weeks back. The pair, who co-chair President Obama’s deficit reduction commission, want to raise the Social Security retirement age, cut Medicare,...

Republicans Can't Wait for Debt 'Blood Bath'

Paul Krugman

Nov 22, 2010 9:52 AM CST

Republicans Can't Wait for Debt 'Blood Bath'

One of our parties just doesn't care about 'making American governable'

(Newser) - Alan Simpson must be a serious moderate Republican—after all, President Obama appointed him to co-chair his debt commission. Well here’s what this moderate said Friday: “I can’t wait for the blood bath in April. … We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit...

Deficit Commission Hijacked By the Right

Paul Krugman

Nov 12, 2010 12:58 PM CST

Deficit Commission Hijacked By the Right

Krugman: It's yet another soak-the-poor scheme

(Newser) - Paul Krugman had a bad feeling about the president’s deficit commission when co-chair Alan Simpson likened Social Security to “a milk cow with 310 million tits.” The suggestions put forward Wednesday haven’t improved his opinion. Simpson, and Democrat Erskine Bowles, proposed a truly “bipartisan” plan—...

We Need to Listen
to Alan Simpson

Dana Milbank

Sep 4, 2010 11:02 AM CDT

We Need to Listen to Alan Simpson

He's blunt, salty and completely correct on Social Security

(Newser) - When Alan Simpson called Social Security "a milk cow with 310 million tits," outrage ensued . When he followed that up by accusing some vets of milking the system, more outrage ensued. The former senator is "painfully blunt" and a little "salty," writes Dana Milbank, but...

Alan Simpson: Social Security
Is a 'Milk Cow
With 310M Tits'

Aug 25, 2010 12:09 PM CDT

Alan Simpson: Social Security Is a 'Milk Cow With 310M Tits'

Critics want ex-senator off reform panel

(Newser) - Alan Simpson is in some hot water today over a unique analogy he made about Social Security: "It's like a milk cow with 310 million tits!" the former Wyoming senator and newly anointed anatomy expert wrote to a critic in what Ben Smith of Politico describes as a...

Washington Is Waking Up to Public's Spending Fears

PEGGY NOONAN

Feb 19, 2010 9:33 AM CST

Washington Is Waking Up to Public's Spending Fears

GOP needs to build consensus for cuts—and win back White House

(Newser) - President Obama may be just trying to save his political life with the creation of a bipartisan commission on government spending but the move shows Washington is waking up to the public's worries, writes Peggy Noonan. Concerns about federal spending and its implications for America's future have, just in time,...

Obama Moves Forward on Debt Commission

Feb 17, 2010 8:51 AM CST

Obama Moves Forward on Debt Commission

Names Simpson, Bowles co-chairs in spite of GOP protests

(Newser) - Ignoring GOP resistance, President Obama is moving ahead with plans for a commission to bring down the federal debt. Obama will tomorrow name Clinton White House vet Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson to co-chair the panel, which will seek to knock the federal debt down from...