Is $1.5 Trillion in Savings Possible?

11 August 2011 |permalink | email article

The “Super Congress” deficit reduction committee began to gather steam Wednesday as Capital Hill hopes that the 12 appointees – six from each party – will prove the ability of Congress to function during the current crisis, with a plan by Nov. 23.

House Speaker John Boehner appointed three Republicans – Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Fred Upton of Michigan, and Jeb Hensarling of Texas, the Republican conference chairman. Senator Mich McConnell chosen three senators, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; Rob Portman of Ohio; and retiring minority whip Jon Kyl. Majority leader Harry Reid named Democrats Patty Murray of Washington, John Kerry of Massachusetts, and d Max Baucus of Montana. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader, has yet to name her three selections.

The developing consensus is that a deal will need approval from at least eight of the supercommittee members to give it any serious consideration – probably two from each party in each chamber, to break through the partisanship. All six Republicans have signed a pledge, written by Grover Norquist, not to raise taxes. Late Wednesday afternoon Norquist tweeted” “Boehner and McConnell appoint friends of taxpayers to the ‘Debt Super Committee” your wallet is safe.” For my two-cents plain it’s an ominous preview of what can go wrong.

On the Trail

Sarah Palin, still flirting with a presidential run, shows up at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, while Rick Perry,
after announcing his presidential candidacy in South Carolina on Saturday, arrives in Iowa the next day….
The many faces of Michele Bachmann surface before the Ames Straw Poll Saturday in Iowa. Despite her rhetoric railing on the evils of federal spending records obtained by the Huffington Post indicate that the Minnesota congresswoman requested money for her district from agencies and programs she repeatedly slammed in her speeches. She also described the Environmental Protection Agency as a”Job Killing Agency”….Struggling for attention, GOP presidential hopeful Joh Huntsman announced the endorsement of Jeb Bush. All Obama’s former ambassador to China really got was the backing of Jeb Bush Jr., the son of the former Florida governor. How pathetic!

Quotable

“There will be pressure to compromise on tax increases. We will be told that there is no other way forward. I respectfully disagree…I firmly believe we can find bipartisan agreement on savings that can be agreed to without tax increases.” – House Majority Leader Eric Canter advising the House GOP caucus to resist pressure on the new Congressional “supercommittee” to mute ideological differences.
o“If this was a loss, I hope we have many more such losses in 2012.” – Markos Moulitsas, the driving force behind Daily Kos, the left-wing Democratic vanguard, after the party came up just short of taking over the Wisconsin Senate in recall elections Tuesday,

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