Supercommittee Member Blames Failure On 2012 Politics

By Mike Hothi

Supercommittee member Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) Tuesday blamed the bipartisan panel’s recent failure on “forces pulling the Democrats away from an agreement.”

“We have a Presidential campaign that is now premised on the idea that the President is running against a do-nothing Congress,” Toomey said during an appearance at the Heritage Foundation.

Toomey said that he believes success in the Super Committee would have made the President’s message meaningless.

“If the select committee had come to a great bipartisan agreement that could pass both houses and get signed into law, it would rather muddle the message that the President is trying to run on,” Toomey said.

The Super Committee was tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in savings to avoid automatic sequestration, a task the 12 person panel failed to accomplish.

Toomey also blamed the far left wing of the Democratic party for meddling in the committee’s negotiations. He stated that while there were some Democrats that tried to reach an agreement, many in the committee “found it impossible to break from the left wing of their own caucus.”

Going forward, Toomey said he believes that in order for true reform to be undertaken, the U.S. must “await another election cycle for further clarity and guidance from the voters.”