The proposal of President Obama’s fiscal commission gained the approval of 11 of the panels’ 18 members — or more than 60 percent — but it fell short of the 14 votes needed to bring the plan to a vote in Congress.
However, the better than expected showing could put pressure on President Obama to come out in favor of some sort of deficit reduction plan, especially given that the Simpson-Bowles proposal drew support from both Republicans and Democrats — including those with such ideological differences as Sens. Dick Durbin and Tom Coburn. (A full breakdown of how the members voted, here.)
Obama, on a surprise trip to Afghanistan, said he would “study closely” the deficit commisison’s proposals.
