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Commission for Deficit Reduction Rejected by Senate

The U.S. Senate has rejected by a vote of 53 to 46 a plan to create a budget commission that would have worked to address the nation's soaring budget deficit. Sixty votes were necessary to pass the plan. However, the idea may not be dead. President Obama has a back-up. He has told lawmakers he plans to issue an executive order creating such a task force with broad power to change the tax code and spending on entitlement programs.

The original plan has been supported by Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and the Committee's top Republican, Judd Gregg, R-N.H. The lawmakers sought to create a commission that would make recommendations that Congress would have to vote up or down, without amendments. The Senators argued that such a vote-forcing mechanism is the only way to pass politically unpopular tax increases or reductions in Social Security, Medicare and other big entitlement programs.