North Dakota

North Dakota’s delegation at odds on the federal deficit

North Dakota’s congressional delegation agrees that the country needs a comprehensive plan to slash deficits and get a grip on national debt to stave off the looming fiscal crisis.

But Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad and Republicans Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Rick Berg are just as divided as the rest of Congress when it comes to what should be included in that plan. And time’s running out for Washington leaders to strike a deal before the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic federal default.

Berg said dealing with the country’s growing debt and deficits – which will likely require entitlement reforms, spending cuts and new revenue through changes to the tax system – is kind of like “turning a big battleship around.”

“Congress never does anything suddenly,” he said. “We need to move now, and we need to move aggressively.”

Berg said it’s been “reassuring” to watch the debate over America’s economic course change “180 degrees” since January, and there now is nearly unanimous agreement on both sides of the aisle that Congress needs to do something to address the fiscal problems.

But all along, the effort to deal with the looming crisis has remained split between two different sides with two very different approaches.

“What Republicans are saying is we have got to reduce spending and we’ve got to get economic growth,” Hoeven said. “Our feeling is that by raising taxes, you hurt economic growth. Democrats want to raise taxes – that is a difference, and that’s something we have to come to grips with.”

Bipartisan talks

Hoeven said it’s vital for Washington leaders to take a bipartisan approach as they negotiate entitlement reforms, changes to the tax code and spending cuts to reach a plan both parties can accept.

“We’ve got to find a way to bring this stuff forward together so one side or the other doesn’t just beat up on whatever concepts are put out there,” he said. “It’s got to be brought forward in a bipartisan way in order for the president and the House and Senate to agree.”

But high-profile bipartisan efforts to develop a comprehensive deficit reduction strategy have fizzled out. Negotiations helmed by Vice President Joe Biden came to a halt last month when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., pulled out of the talks, declaring an “impasse” over the tax increase issue.

The so-called Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators including Conrad who met for months to strike up a deal, came “extremely close” to a final package of recommendations. But the group suffered a fatal blow in May when Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., declared he was on “sabbatical” from the effort after the senators hit a roadblock over Medicare cuts.

Conrad said the Gang of Six isn’t prepared to report its recommendations on how to achieve more than $4.5 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years. And other group members now want to wait and see what happens with top-level leadership negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and President Barack Obama that started last week.

“This is ultimately where it always had to get,” he said. “Decisions of this magnitude have to be made by the top leadership and then be brought back to the two chambers to see if it can receive the necessary support.”

But Conrad said he’s pursued “multiple efforts” all year to address the nation’s fiscal problems, and he doesn’t want to take any chances the new negotiations will result in something that can be passed before the debt limit comes up for a vote.

Conrad, the Senate Budget Committee chairman, said committee Democrats agreed last Wednesday on a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases to reach an “essential”

$4 trillion deficit reduction over the next decade.

Democratic leaders will be briefed on the new plan Tuesday, and Obama is expected to meet with Senate Democrats on Wednesday to discuss deficit reduction proposals.

Conrad said he still believes a bipartisan agreement will be the only way to get the necessary votes to enact a tough new approach to reducing the deficit and curbing the federal debt.

But laying out the plan could be another tool in negotiating the final fiscal roadmap that Congress will have to approve, he said.

“I don’t see any reason to wait now,” he said. “It may be useful to the top-level negotiation that’s going on to have another comprehensive plan that’s out there for their consideration.”