Bowles: Fiscal cliff deal a 'missed opportunity'

Speaking to the financial and general news press, Fix The Debt Coalition Co-founder Erskine Bowles characterized the 'fiscal cliff' solution as a 'missed opportunity.'

Erskine Bowles, partner architect of the Simpson-Bowles fiscal reform recommendations and co-founder of the Fix The Debt Coalition, expressed his disappointment in the wake of the nation's "fiscal cliff" negotiations. The federal government, according to Bowles, delivered a "missed opportunity" for the American people in stabilizing the national debt. "We got something," Bowles said, according to a CNBC transcript. "We got about $620 billion worth of revenues. Unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity. This was a magic moment to do something really big about our long-term fiscal problems." A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports found that American voters are evenly split on the results of the fiscal cliff negotiation. 46 percent of likely American voters approved of the deal while 46 percent disapproved. President Obama has been accused by his critics as not wanting to commit to stabilizing spending, and Bowles expressed his concern with regard to the spending side of the fiscal equation. " I don't think he [President Obama] wants to cut it enough and won't go as far as I want him to go, but, you know, he's laid out $375 billion worth of cuts in things like Medicare that are at least a good start," Bowles told CNBC. "I don't believe he is willing to do as much as I think we should." The U.S. debt stands at $16.4 trillion currently, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock.