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Obama seats his debt commission—is a balanced U.S. budget in the offing?

This morning President Obama signed an executive order creating a bipartisan debt commission. That same commission was shot down in the senate earlier this month by seven Republicans who voted against the President’s bill after they learned the commission might recommend tax increases. Pushing through the commission by executive order doesn’t look great for bipartisan relations and won’t solve the problem of how to get fiscal conservatives to join in, but the White House says it's imperative for future fiscal planning. Republicans counter that it's nothing more than political posturing and warn they refuse to raise taxes; Democrats fear deep spending cuts to Social Security and are wary of touching it in an election year. Does this commission get the American people and career politicians any closer to talking about the elephant in the room?

Guests:

Dan Gainer, Vice President of Business and Culture at Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog

Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits.