Image: Flickr Chris Griffith
Zeke Miller
Business Insider
11/21/2011
We’ll spare you the back and forth, but suffice it to say that Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the super committee’s so-to-be-announced failure to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit.
But both sides share a part in the committee’s failure — with Democrats hesitant to offer substantial entitlement reforms and wasting time demanding stimulus spending, and Republicans demanding that the Bush Tax cuts be extended as part of a tax reform package.
(New spending and further tax cuts would only have made the committee’s deficit-cutting job harder. Democrats were never accept the extension of the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy — even as a part of comprehensive tax reform. And Republicans could hardly agree to tax increases without massive entitlement reforms — and even that would be a stretch.)
More significant to the failure is that the committee never functioned as a group – with lawmakers still beholden to leadership, and under pressure from their caucuses not to give away the store…
The article continues at Business Insider.
Related: And Now, Here’s How Much Your Taxes Will Spike If Congress Can’t Extend The Payroll Tax Cut
…The agency reminded us that it previously said it would likely lower its outlook if the Super Committee failed to agree on a deficit reduction deal. They’re currently reviewing their rating and they will update us by the end of the month…
Congress is pathetic. 12 Citizens chose at random would’ve made a budget deal.
