Super Committee Cannot Leap Over Ideological Chasm; President Warns He Will Not Allow Gutting of Automatic Cuts
A report from the Coalition on Human Needs:
Monday, November 21 was the day the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction had to provide details of its plan to the Congressional Budget Office so its costs and savings could be estimated. Unable to agree on a plan, the Committee’s co-chairs Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) released a statement acknowledging that.
The so-called “super committee” was granted special powers in the Budget Control Act, requiring legislation that could pass the Committee with a majority vote to proceed on a fast track through Congress, unencumbered by amendments or procedural delaying tactics. But that expedited path would only be possible if the Joint Select Committee could get to “yes” by November 23. They could not.
Evenly split among Democrats and Republicans as well as House and Senate, the Joint Select Committee foundered because the Committee’s Republicans were dogged in using the deficit reduction goal to shrink domestic programs while even further reducing the tax burden of upper-income individuals and corporations...more
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