More than half of the members of a presidential commission have endorsed an aggressive deficit-cutting blueprint that includes a proposed 15¢-per-gallon boost in the federal gasoline tax. Eleven of 18 National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform members voted for the wide-ranging plan, but that was three votes short of the 14-member supermajority needed for formal approval.
Still, commission members who gathered on Dec. 3 in a Senate hearing room for the voting session were optimistic that the plan, contained in a final report titled “The Moment of Truth,” would have an impact on future federal budget debates.