As the Congressional Budget Office warned of a recession in the event of a federal fiscal stalemate, two senators appearing on CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report” did little to bridge differences.
“I would want to put Bowles-Simpson in place immediately,” Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said Tuesday, adding that it would cut spending, simplify the tax code and fix Medicare and Social Security. “If I couldn’t be re-elected because Bowles-Simpson made some people mad, I could live with that.”
A series of tax hikes and automatic spending cuts would take effect in January unless the White House and lawmakers forge a compromise.
The CBO forecasted that the U.S. economy would contract at an annual rate of 1.3 percent for the first half of 2013 if lawmakers take no action to prevent the looming tax hikes and spending cuts, according to Reuters.