Supercommittee likely to admit defeat on debt deal

[alp227]

Source: Wash. Post

The congressional committee tasked with reducing the federal deficit is poised to admit defeat as soon as Monday, and its unfinished business will set up a year-end battle over emergency jobless benefits and an expiring payroll tax holiday.

Those provisions are among a host of measures set to lapse at the end of December. During nearly three months of negotiations, the “supercommittee” had been weighing whether to extend at least some of them as part of a broader plan to shave a minimum of $1.2 trillion over the next decade.

Democrats and many economists consider particularly urgent the need to extend jobless benefits and the one-year payroll tax cut. With national unemployment stuck at 9 percent, and the ranks of the long-term unemployed at record levels, the government is providing up to 99 weeks of support to about 3.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the payroll tax cut, enacted last December, allows most American workers to keep an additional 2 percent of their earnings, a boon to tight household budgets as well as the economic recovery. Economists at J.P. Morgan Chase recently estimated that if Congress does not extend the two measures, economic growth next year could take a hit of as much as two percentage points — enough to revive fears of a recession.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/supercommittee-likely-to-admit-defeat-on-debt-deal/2011/11/19/gIQAgtGfcN_singlePage.html

[jmowreader]

1. I think we here all knew the "supercommittee" was going to fail

The Republicans went into the supercommittee with two demands: cuts only, and no cuts to the defense budget. They even came up with an idea for eliminating a lot of Schedule A deductions (not charitable deductions, though--there's no way we can ask the churches to help shoulder the burden by moving donations into after-tax income) but it was only to pay for another tax cut.

You of course know what's going to happen next: the Republicans are going to go out on the campaign trail blaming their stubbornness on the Democrats: "They wouldn't cut a nickel without job-killing tax hikes!" (Boner's press secretary actually said that.)

[PATRICK]

2. The two sides

One willing to cut its political throat to give half the store(now, more later) to the GOP and the GOP, not represented by Tea Party loons supposedly, too fearful to stop driving the nation into a suitable wreck for election purposes. The Dems handing out enough rope to hang themselves to the other side. The other side without strength for a hanging effort insisting on the electric ballot chair. The Dems determined to lose themselves in a soulless fog of giveaways and the GOP scared of anything less than the clarity of insane denial.

I don't think it is simple to analyze, but not having a "deal" is most certainly not the fault of Democrats. Only a mass suicide of all elected Dems(Governors leaving posthumous appointments of fill-in-the-blank RW GOP choices) would possibly suffice. Likely that would paralyze the GOP as well, alone with nothing to say really, in a lonely spotlight of disaster and responsibility, gabbling mindlessly into the dark.

In case the media has not noticed the summary, by default is written in our blood. The GOP consigns the economy to doom to get back the government. Rationally untenable but in a rigged system permitted by the Democrats and dictated by corporate interests, still practical and the only path they have outside of real governance, smart politics, too scary for their ilk.

[msongs]

3. as many analyists have pointed out, doing nothing n let the bush tax give aways expire is best nt

[No Elephants]

9. The Bush tax cuts expired 12/31/10. Do you mean the Obama tax cuts?

[Shadowflash]

14. +100

[OhioChick]

17. +200 n/t

[jpak]

18. um Obama was forced by the GOP to choose between extended UI benfits and the the Bush tax cuts

He chose to save those unemployment benefits

to the 99%

yup

[DallasNE]

4. We Can Thank Two Events For This Deadlock

And they are related. First was the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate "contributions". Second was the response by misinformed voters that bought in to the corporate message. Right now there is a severe backlash to these events but in the mean time we are stuck with this disfunctional Congress.

[pezDispenser]

5. we are stuck with a dysfunctional congress because of gerrymandering /nt

[DallasNE]

20. While Gerrymandering Has Long Been A Problem

It is not the root cause of our current problem. The House was not dysfunctional during the 4 years Nancy Pelosi was Speaker. This has only happened under John Boehner's "leadership" as Speaker. House district lines were redrawn for the 2002 election and will not be changed again until the 2012 election.

[No Elephants]

10. Obama's desire to cut entitlements without taking the political heat from that himself had

nothing to do with it?

WAPO January 15, 2009 story headlined Obama Promises to Cut Entitlements.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/15/AR2009011504114.html

Transcript of January 15, 2009 interview by WAPO of Obama, so we can separate what Obama actually said from how WAPO's Shear wrote up the story. http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/obama_011509.pdf?sid=ST2009011504146 (mentions, among other things, a "Grand Bargain.")

Obama tried with the Cat Food Commission, whosse recommendations Congress supposedly could only vote yes or no on, not amend.

After that failed, we miraculously got the Super Committee, whose recommendations Congress supposedly could only vote yes or no on, not amend.

Now we go into the default cuts that occur when the Super Committee fails, although I somehow have a feeling we'll get screwed even worse than that in the long run.

And Obama gets to stand apart from all of that appaarently. Eithr its the fault of the Commission and Congress or the fault of the Super Committee and Congress. Obama's hands are as clean as Pilate's.

And they call Bubba the Teflon President!


(Compare Obama's actions with the recommendation by the DLC that Obama name a Sunset Commission, appointed by the President Obama, whose recommenations Congress could only vote yes or no on, not amend. http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254871&kaid=85&subid=65

[DallasNE]

19. Oh, My

You call President Clinton the teflon President and confuse the reason why President Reagan earned the title of a Teflon President.

"Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, was nicknamed the Teflon President, after scandals surrounding members of his staff seemed to have no effect on Reagan's popularity with the public"

Anyway, I fail to see any connection between your comments and the Tea Party members in the House that have made that body completely disfunctional. Plus, it seems that everything sticks to Obama which is the opposite of being a Teflon President.

[pam4water]

6. The super committee was an unconstitutional, non-representative set towards oligarchy. They were fai

fail what ever way you look at them.

[No Elephants]

11. Both the Cat Food Commission and the Super Committee are very reminiscent of a DLC proposal. Pls.

see Reply #10 on this thread.

[Kablooie]

7. I'd bet a small fortune that they will announce success on Monday.

It will be nothing that any reasonable person would consider success but they will declare and brag about it anyway.

(and the small fortune I put up consisted of 7 cents. ... I said was small.)

[Imajika]

16. Nah, neither side really wants a deal...

Both the Republicans and Democrats think failure plays to their advantage, so there isn't much incentive to reach a deal. The Republicans know the automatic cuts to defense won't happen and believe dysfunction favors them in the 2012 elections, and the Democrats believe they can paint the Republicans as defending the 1% at all costs. Personally I think this works to the Democrats favor and fits in with the OWS movement, so I am glad there will be no deal since I am sure it would have been nothing but bad.

[Kablooie]

23. Damn. I'm out 7 cents.

[freshwest]

8. Duh, what about letting those Bush tax cuts expire? Or will it be a replay of UE vs them?

If they'd been allowed to expire, we wouldn't be in this mess as bad as we are now. The tea party was created with the sole purpose of making sure they didn't die a natural death, but were extended. With all the threats against UE, PP and not lifting the debt ceiling. How does the failure of the Super Committee change that problem?

[No Elephants]

12. The Bush tax cuts expired almost a year ago. We are now under the Obama tax cuts.

[DCBob]

13. This is good news. The debt "crisis" was manufactured by the GOP..

Our debt is a problem but it does not need to addressed immediately and it shouldnt be addressed until our economy is more stable.

The bottom line.. Obama and Dems got what they wanted.. the debt ceiling raised and no major cuts to the budget. Obama wins again.

[sarcasmo]

15. Was there ever a time line on this super committee or is it a permanent illegal deal?

[TomCADem]

21. Love The Corporate Media Spin - Democrats Are Refusing To Compromise, Because...

...They keep on insisting $1.2 trillion in additional revenues, which works out to about a 1 dollar of taxes for every three dollars of spending cuts!

[red dog 1]

22. Supercommittee Was Doomed to Fail Because Repubs Signed Norquist's Pledge To Not Raise Taxes

Tonight, "60 Minutes" reporter Steve Kroft talks to Norquist about getting most Republicans in Congress to pledge they won't raise taxes.

"I vote for the Republican.
He or she will not raise my taxes," he tells Kroft.

But former Republican Senator Alan Simpson describes Norquist as a "megalomaniac, egomaniac, whatever you want to call him.
He ought to run for president, because that will be his platform, 'no new taxes even if your country goes to hell."

Orlando Sentinel 11/19/11.. "60 Minutes Talks to Grover Norquist and IMF Chief"