run 25 minutes long. you can watch it live right here on the fox news channel. the president now facing criticism from both sides of the ail because of his actions in libya. what impact could have have on the reelection campaign and about what the gop contenders who want to make their move as well? let s bring in our panel to talk about it. also joining us, rob shapiro, former advisor for the campaign and transition for president obama. thank you both for coming in. pleasure to be here. what does the president do now with the criticisms? some are drawing parallels to his criticism of president w. bush, 43 about how he handled iraq and afghanistan and some say he is making the same move? i think what he does is succeed. the problem is not how you present it, the problem is what is the final result. i think the president has been clear about the goal of the policy.
opportunity to have a rigorous discussion about priorities, about national priorities, and we re never going to get this problem solved unless we have an open, honest discussion about priorities, about the size and the role of government. rob is exactly right, this report not only talks about spending reductions, but still, they re proposing a target spending level of 22 percent which is higher than the post world war ii average. it s got a target of 21 percent of gdp in revenue. that would be the highest revenue level in history. and so we need to have a more fundamental conversation about what are the priorities that we want to focus on. jenna: well we look forward to talking more about that, priority necessary general in the future, gentlemen. thank you very much, rob and david, we appreciate your insight. a pleasure. jon: the splendor is docking in san diego. a pretty tricky maneuver because the ship doesn t have its own power so they had to nudge it into place
well, i think this is a very important first step from two serious men in washington. i think it s an important first step in reigning in out of control federal spending. i think that the report is a clear recognition that we are on an unsustainable path when it comes to federal spending and the national debt, and i think the american people are ready for a serious discussion, i think that s the message of the 2010 mid-term elections, that they expect congress to go back and start having serious discussions about something that the american people knows is unsustainable. jenna: serious discussion serious discussions, but rob, we don t want things that are not realistic. is this fees snibl. it s certainly not feasible in its current form. jenna: what would you change? it s also let s recognize this is not only substantial spending cuts, it s also very substantial tax increases. but i think what the two
as we watch that story. in the meantime another big story, the president s debt commission out with drastic proposals to cut the spiralling decifit which now stands at more than a trillion dollars and the bipartisan leaders of that commission, former senator allan simpson and former white house chief of staff ir skin bowles saying there s no doubt it s going to hurt. among the proposals gradually raising the reterm age to 68 by 2050 and to 69 by 2075, reducing the annual cost of living increase for social security benefits and adding, adding, a 15 cents gas tax hike. also, cutting defense spending, specifically, on equipment, research, and overseas troops. joining us now, david sampson, former deputy secretary of commerce under president george w. bush and rob shapiro, former undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs in the clinton administration. welcome to you both. quite a report to take a look at. david, let s start with you. is this feasible?
so the question, rod, to you first and david to you next is why hasn t that been done already? well, these are the kinds of things that are done normally when we re trying to cut spending or find more money for something else. the printing costs, for example, have been cut back in the past, they want to cut them some more, so let s keep this in perspective. you know, you re talking about a couple billion dollars out of a package that s $4 trillion. so yes, you need to do these smaller things, but you re only serious if you do the big things in both spending and in revenues. jenna: david, i m sure some of our viewers are like we ll take a couple billion if we can save it off the prints fees. sure. every business is making decisions on things like travel and how they can be more efficient in their operations, but i would agree with rob, it s important to look for those savings, but i think that this offers a real important