White House fiscal panel starts monthly meetings Tuesday

The White House fiscal commission will hold its first meeting Tuesday and will meet once a month thereafter.

The bipartisan commission, created by President Barack Obama to produce a plan to rein in federal debt, will meet at the White House at 9:30 Tuesday morning to hear remarks from the president, according to Bruce Reed, the commission's executive director.

Later that morning, they'll hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag and former Congressional Budget Office directors Rudy Penner and Robert Reischauer. After those speakers, each member of the commission will give a five-minute statement.

The panel plans to meet in Washington on the last Wednesday of every month that Congress is in session, Reed said. Obama wants the commission, which will look at changes to tax, spending and entitlement policies, to produce a final report with its recommendations in December. 

The report must have the approval of 14 of the 18 members, six of whom are Republicans in Congress, six of whom are congressional Democrats and six of whom were picked by Obama. Democratic leaders in Congress have pledged to bring up the commission's final proposals up for floor votes before Congress adjourns.