Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a panel Monday that to solve sequestration, both political parties should act like adults and compromise, the Washington Post reports.
Speaking at an event co-sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Gates added “reducing defense alone does not solve the problem because roughly two-thirds of all federal spending goes to entitlements.”
Gates also said that Congress should “rise above†their parochial and reelection interests to solve the nation’s debt crisis and avoid sequestration.
Erskine Bowles, former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff and budget director, said funding for “national security, homeland security, education, infrastructure, research” programs last year was borrowed.
Bowles, together with former budget director Alice Rivlin said focusing on healthcare, defense, tax code reform, Social Security, and national debt will help avoid the automatic budget cuts set for January 2013.
