Republican Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) said on Monday that Congress is equipped to act quickly to enact fiscal reform, telling MSNBC that decisions can be made to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" in "two to three days."
"We have plenty of time to make these decisions. It's just a matter of doing it. If we can do it in two or three weeks, candidly, they can be made in two to three days. It's easy to put this policy into writing, I've demonstrated that with a bill," Corker said on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."
Corker called on his colleagues to put the looming crisis in the "rear view mirror" in order to spur economic growth.
The Tennessee Republican was making media appearances on Monday to tout his proposal for avoiding the combination of tax rate rises and automatic spending cuts set to take effect in January. The GOP lawmaker unveiled his plan in a op-ed in
The Washington Post Monday morning.
"I think it's so much easier ... just to lay out the policy now, than it is to try to negotiate at two-step or three-step process. I've written a 242-page bill that lays out the policies. The tax portions ... are just four pages long, so I sure hope people will stop talking about how this is just too hard to do," he said.
Corker argued that there is a "menu of options, all of which have been scored" by the Congressional Budget Office.
"This Congress has had two dry runs. We've been through this more than any Congress ever in the history of our country and really we just have to make some tough decisions. They're going to be equally painful three months from now, nine months from now, two years from now. As a matter of fact at that point they'll have to be even more draconian," Corker said.
Corker said he was optimistic that President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will both be open to discussing revenues with entitlement reform.
Earlier Monday, Corker told
CBS "This Morning" that the "easiest thing, the best thing we can do for the country, is rip the Band-Aid off, make these decisions."
The Tennessee senator predicted that if Congress reaches an agreement soon, the economy will "take off" come January.
