Avoiding the Fiscal Cliff: A Conversation with Senator Pat Toomey (R-Penn.)

Policymakers, budget experts and economists from across the political spectrum are calling for solutions to address the fast-approaching “fiscal cliff”—a combination of federal tax increases and spending cuts that the Congressional Budget Office says will push the already weak economy back into a recession. But to date, sharp partisan divides have hindered progress toward a bipartisan solution to avoid the cliff, with leading Democrats recently indicating they are willing to let all the Bush tax rates expire at the end of the year unless Republicans agree to tax increases.

On July 24, the Budgeting for National Priorities project at Brookings hosted Senator Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and a former member of the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, for a conversation on the super committee’s negotiations, his deficit reduction framework, and his view on how pro-growth tax reform presents a path forward to address our fiscal challenges, including the impending ‘fiscal cliff.’ Following Senator Toomey’s keynote address, a panel of experts examined the potential impact of the fiscal cliff on the U.S. economy and assess solutions now being proposed on Capitol Hill. Senator Toomey and panelists took questions from the audience.

Participants followed the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #BIToomey.