If Barack Obama loses in November, the names Bowles and Simpson may come back to haunt him. Last year the US president rejected the findings of the 18-member fiscal commission even though it was he who created it. Most of the rest of 2011 was devoted to a game of fiscal high jinks with Congress that resulted in the first ever US sovereign credit rating downgrade. It is never too late for Mr Obama to embrace Bowles-Simpson. Indeed, it could help carry him over the electoral finishing line.
如果巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在今年11月的大选中失利,他以后可能会经常想起两个名字——鲍尔斯(Bowles)和辛普森(Simpson)。去年,奥巴马否决了拥有18位成员的鲍尔斯-辛普森财政委员会的成果,尽管正是他一手创建了该委员会。之后,在2011年剩余的大部分时间里,政府与国会就财政问题展开激烈博弈,最终导致美国主权信用评级遭到有史以来的首次下调。对奥巴马而言,无论什么时候支持鲍尔斯-辛普森提议都不算晚。实际上,它可能帮助奥巴马冲过竞选终点线。