Committee Likely to Fail, Romney Blames the President

This past summer, the American public waited in anticipation for the Republican controlled Congress and President Obama to reach an agreement that would avert the first ever American default on our loans. A compromise was reached that allowed the United States to raise its borrowing limit and prevent a default; however, the government had to make cuts in different programs over a certain number of years. The agreement proposed “$2.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years ” and $900 billion immediate cuts (New York Times). As part of this agreement a bipartisan committee was established in order to reach an agreement about the best ways to reduce the deficit, however, if the members did not reach an agreement by a certain time then automatic cuts would be made in education, defense, Medicare, and transportation (New York Times).
This bipartisan committee is comprised of 12 Democrats and Republicans. There are 3 Democrat Senators and 3 Republican Senators as well as 3 Democrat House members and 3 Republican House members. The Democrat’s side includes Senator Patty Murray, Senator Max Baucus, Senator John Kerry, Representative Xavier Becerra, Representative Chris Van Hollen, and Representative James Clyburn (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). The Republican’s side includes Senator Rob Portman, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Patrick Toomey, Representative Jeb Hensarling, Representative Dave Camp, and Representative Fred Upton (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). The deadline for the agreement is November 23rd by which time the agreement would be sent to Congress for a vote (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). However, with only three days to go it is becoming more likely that an agreement will not be reached.

RJ Matson http://yubanet.com/cartoon/Super-Duper-Committee.php


It seems like the main issue that the committee cannot agree on is an increase in taxes on the wealthiest Americans. It should not come as a surprise, because much of the debt ceiling debate was structured around raising taxes on the richest Americans. During the summer President Obama kept reiterating how it was unfair that some of the richest Americans pay a lower tax percentange than the average middle class household. Patty Murray said the following on CNN, “That's the Bush tax cuts. In making sure that any kind of package includes everybody coming to the table and the wealthiest of Americans, those who earn over a million dollars every year, have to share, too. And that line in the sand, we haven't seen any Republicans willing to cross yet”(Delaney). Jon Kyl countered with, “In Washington, there are folks who won't cut a dollar unless we raise taxes .If you want to get serious about the deficit our country has to grow economically. You can't grow if you raise taxes in the middle of a recession” on NBC (Bolduan and Desjardins). It seems like both sides are not willing to budge when it comes to taxes.
Since it seems like an agreement will not be reached in time, some politicians want to stop the automatic cuts in programs that will happen if the committee does not agree on a compromise. Jon Kyl has expressed that he wants Congress to stop the automatic cuts in defense (Stein). Mitt Romney agreed that defense cuts are a bad idea and has blamed President Obama for the imminent failure. In New Hampshire Romney said the following, “It is another example of failed leadership. I call on the President of the United States to immediately introduce legislation that restores that cut to our military, we cannot put the United States’ security at jeopardy by virtue of the failure of this committee and the failure of his leadership”(Friedman). However, I do not think it is the President that is to blame here, but the members who are too partisan to reach a compromise. Senator Kyl cannot have it both ways. The automatic defense cuts should not be eliminated because the committee knew the consequences of their actions or vacillations.

Works Cited

Bolduan, Kate, and Lisa Desjardins. "Aides: 'Super Committee' Likely to Announce Failure to Reach Debt Deal - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Cowan, Richard, Kevin Drawbaugh, Thomas Ferraro;, and Donna Smith. "Factbox: Deficit Super Committee's 12 Members| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. 07 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Delaney, Arthur. "Super Committee Failure: Bush Tax Cuts Obstacle To Deal." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

"Federal Debt Ceiling - The New York Times." Times Topics - The New York Times. 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Friedman, Emily. "Romney Blames Obama for Expected Failure of Super Committee." Abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Web. .

Stein, Sam. "Super Committee Member Jon Kyl Turns Eye Towards Saving Pentagon From Trigger Cuts." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .