DENVER-“If you can’t compromise, you shouldn’t be in Congress. And you shouldn’t get married."

So said Alan Simpson, former US senator and co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. He was speaking to a packed house at the ULI Fall Conference here. He was blunt, he was funny and he spared neither Republican nor Democrat in his frank assessment of the condition we’re in. For instance: “Barack Obama is the highest-spending president we’ve had,” Simpson said. But Number 2 was George W. Bush.”

In short form Simpson said you can cut from Defense, such as healthcare systems that the public doesn’t know about that are offered to Defense workers separate from those the public can access. Healthcare and social security can be tweaked, either to reduce waste or put the money to sensible use within the system.