19 intelligent, experienced leaders from US government and industry spent 8 months studying the current US economic situation for 8 months with a a mandate to “identify to the President policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run.” More specifically, The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was tasked to produce a plan to balance the Federal budget by 2015, and to address the long term growing gap between revenue and expenditures of the Federal government.

Their report is 59 pages long. It’s not overly complicated, and it’s not a cure-all, but it is a worthwhile read for EVERY American. Too many of us are standing around, wringing our hands, attending rallies, and ranting on blogs, but not really doing anything to educate ourselves on the problem or possible solutions.

They have some radical recommendations. They call for shared sacrifice. Guess what? They recognize that we’re not going to be able to balance the budget on the backs of “the other guys”. We all get to share in the pain.

I like it. Some smart people put aside self-interests, and came up with some concrete proposals. Unfortunately, it seems just in the short time since their report has been published, very little has been taken seriously. I’m afraid we’re going to see this one dry up and blow away, and we’ll be in a deeper hole in 5 years.

Have you read it? What are your thoughts? What are you willing to give up, or are you hoping that everybody else sacrifices so you don’t have to?