The so called “Super Committee” failed in its top secret behind doors negotiations to produce a bill to cut social insurance programs and military and other spending.
From the New York Times:
Serious negotiations did not begin until Oct. 25, when Democrats offered a proposal to reduce deficits by $3 trillion over 10 years through a combination of spending cuts and $1.3 trillion of revenue, largely from tax increases.
MultimediaA day later Republicans on the committee rejected the Democratic offer and came back with a proposal that would reduce deficits by $2.2 trillion and that included $640 billion of nontax revenue that Democrats said was too modest. Things were not looking good.
The committee held its last public hearing on Nov. 1. Among the witnesses was Erskine B. Bowles, the co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s fiscal commission, who presciently told the Congressional panel, “I am worried you’re going to fail — fail the country.”
Many side conversations were held between members of every possible combination of party and chamber. But when it came down to specifics, especially on taxes, they sputtered.
Democrats felt particularly aggrieved by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Senate Republican, citing him as the main obstacle to an agreement. Democrats spoke of Mr. Kyl as if he were an angry father arriving home to realize the children were having a party, and shutting the whole thing down. “While Kyl is in the group, it sure seems that nothing will happen,” said a Democrat close to the negotiations.
Republicans were offended by what they felt were numerous partisan public comments by two Democrats on the committee, Representative Xavier Becerra of California and Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, who, they said, were rarely in the room when serious negotiations were occurring.
A potential breakthrough occurred in a meeting in the Capitol late on the night of Nov. 7, when Republicans, led by Mr. Toomey, offered a $1.2 trillion package that included $300 billion of new tax revenue. It was the first time Republicans had shown themselves open to significant amounts of new taxes.
But as Democrats studied the proposal, they found much to criticize. The proposal would have permanently reduced tax rates for all taxpayers, and Democrats objected, in particular, to lowering the rates paid by the most affluent Americans.
This is when the patient seemed to take a turn for the worse.
In the eyes of Republicans, when Democrats rejected the Toomey plan, saying it would provide a windfall for millionaires and billionaires, little more could be accomplished.
I’m inclined to think this isn’t even news. The debt is not the biggest problem facing us right now, it’s inequality and unemployment. As far as automatic cuts that kick in when this committee fails, it’s largely toothless. The Congress can act to stop the cuts, and the cuts don’t even kick in until after the next Congress is seated. If this Congress won’t prevent the cuts, the next one certainly can. This commission was nothing more than a way to trash Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors so that neither party would have to take the blame. It’s a good thing that it failed. If the Congress wants to destroy programs that benefit the 99% that every American has already paid for, they’ll have to do it out in the open.
