Super Committee Stumbles Two Weeks Before Deadline

Despite an eventful week of trading offers within President Obama’s 12-member “supercommittee,” reported breakthroughs have since been downplayed, indicating that the bipartisan panel is stalling yet again with just two weeks before its Nov. 23 deadline. 

On Monday, Democrats proposed a plan that would cut $2.3 trillion from the nation’s deficit, including $1 trillion in hiked revenues. Republicans, for the first time, countered by reducing including revenues by lowering Democrats’ proposed figure to $300 billion.

Earlier in the week, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) applauded the proposal put forth by Republican panel members, saying that this was a great starting point. 

“I assume that what we heard from Republicans is a breakthrough that can lead to an agreement, and that’s what we need,” Durbin told reporters Wednesday. 

However, not all Democrats share Durbin’s sentiment and argue that the “breakthrough” was not a genuine attempt to reach a deal. 

Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.), the remaining two Senate Democrats on the panel, say that the shift from Republicans only reflects minimal changes and do not “raise revenues in a significant way to bring us to a fair [and] balanced proposal.”

To make matters worse, Senate leadership continue to trade barbs over who’s to blame for the committee’s slowed progress. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continues to point his finger at Grover Norquist, saying Republicans fear potential repercussions of acting contrary to his anti-tax pledge. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has criticized Democrats and the White House for stalling in order to give the President a chance to run opposite a “do-nothing” Congress. 

Up to this point, the 12-member panel has shown flexibility with the two sacred cows that have been major factors in creating an impasse within the committee; entitlement programs and taxes. Lawmakers have indicated that, despite recent concession from both parties regarding these key issues, there continues to be a large gap that has stalled movement towards a final deal. 

“Republicans have put revenues on the table. Democrats have put entitlements on the table,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said, according to the Associate Press. “They both need to more of each on the table.”

Cornyn: Defense Cuts Would Be 'Arbitrary And Reckless'

By Adrianna McGinley

At the Hudson Institute Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that sequestration following a possible supercommittee failure would have a disastrous impact on national security.

“I worry that our strategic thinking is being driven by dollars and cents more than common sense,” Cornyn said. “If this process fails, and I hope and pray it does not, then … the base defense budget would be cut 14 percent in real terms over just three years.”

Cornyn cited that the sequestration cuts would be in addition to $489 billion in defense cuts under the Budget Control Act and roughly $180 billion of efficiency cuts recommended by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“This should really be a time for rebuilding and retraining and not retreating,” Cornyn advised. “But retreat is the only way to describe what would happen if our military forces are required to live under this sequestration process.”

Cornyn said military leadership is trained not to panic, but “you can hear their frustration and you can hear grave concern in their voices that America’s strategic commitments are being defined not by the requirements but by budgets. They’re frustrated that under the sequestration process the cuts would be arbitrary and reckless.”

The Senator said however that concerns over how the Pentagon spends money should not be disregarded. Rather waste, fraud, and abuse should be aggressively fought. He specifically alluded to financial mismanagement at the Department of Defense citing that it has not been able to produce an “auditable financial statement,” and although the department is not required to do so until 2017, he said it was “shocking” that it could not do so now.

Cornyn joked that the twelve members of the “Super Committee” have more power than any group of Americans since those who wrote the constitution and said they must make use of that power.

“Failure really should not be an option,” Cornyn said. “What would it say to not only the American people…what would it say to the markets, what would it say to the world about America’s seriousness of dealing with these problems?”

Boehner Downplays Norquist's Influence On GOP

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that the attitude surrounding the “super committee” and congressional leadership is “one of nervousness,” once again urging members of the 12-member panel to find common ground before a fast-approaching Thanksgiving deadline.

“I think the mood is one of nervousness,” Boehner told reporters during a Thursday press conference. “This is hard, and everybody knows it’s hard. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the work of all the members of the committee and their effort to try and come to an agreement. “

A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday recommending that both entitlement cuts and new revenues be included in a grand bargain deal that would make a significant dent in the nation’s debt. The letter seemed to have instilled a sense of hope in Congress that a deal was not as improbable as many had thought.

However, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist offered his skepticism of 40 Republican signatures attached to the letter, saying “there’s nothing wrong with considering all options. Consider anything. Just don’t vote for a tax increase,” according to reports.

Norquist, who heads the group Americans for Tax Reform has collected signatures from nearly every Republican in Congress - including Boehner - pledging to oppose the inclusion of any tax increase in a potential “super committee” deal.

During his remarks, Boehner side-stepped questions regarding Norquist’s influence on the Republican conference. Boehner, who signed Norquist’s pledge opposing tax increases, referred to the anti-tax activist as “some random person” and shied away from acknowledging his clout among rank-and-file Republicans.

“Our focus here is on jobs. We’re getting everything we can to get our economy moving again and get people back to work. It’s not often I’m asked about some random person in America,” Boehner answered. “Our conference is opposed to tax hikes because we believe that tax hikes will hurt our economy and put Americans out of work.”

Hoyer Has Low Expectations On Super Committee Success, Remains Hopeful

By Andrea Salazar

With a Nov. 23 deadline fast approaching, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that he has high hopes but low expectations for the president’s Joint Select Committee’s success in recommending at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings. 

“The human nature tends to procrastinate on tough decisions,” Hoyer told reporters at his weekly briefing. 

Despite the looming deadline, the Democratic Whip said his hope is derived from the fact that he hasn’t heard requests from members of the super committee to extend the deadline.

The Democratic Whip, along with 100 other representatives, sent the super committee a letter asking them to “go for the big deal,” find $4 trillion in savings and put both mandatory expenditures and revenues on the table.

“The stakes…are very much higher and, hopefully, that will compel us, even in light of the short time frame available to us, to come together and reach agreement and act in a manner that will be consistent with the American people’s desire that we face tough challenges and meet them,” Hoyer said.

Supercommittee Hears Advice From Deficit Hawks

By Janie Amaya

With an important deadline sitting on the horizon for the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee, the bipartisan body was given advice Tuesday from those who have also attempted to solve the nation’s fiscal woes.

Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Debt Reduction Task Force Dr. Alice Rivlin and former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M) urged the committee to put ideology aside and instead cooperate across the partisan lines by recommending a three-step process to deficit-reduction. 

In their proposal “The Road to the Grand Bargain,” as they call it, the BPC recommends the committee focus on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without hurting those who rely on it the most.

According to BPC, the three-step process is already underway. The passage of the Budge Control Act is the first step in which the committee was given authority to create the deficit-reduction plan. 

In addition, BPC said it recommends the committee to identify a down-payment of $1.2-$1.5 trillion in net deficit reduction over ten years, which it noted should be accompanied by a one-year payroll tax holiday to spur the economy. 

The BPC also noted that the committee should instruct the relevant authorizing committees to legislate further reform, especially on pro-growth tax reform that raises revenue, and structural Medicare reform.  

With their plan, BPC hopes to reduce and stabilize the national debt below 60 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.

“If we don’t do this, those who are for increasing health care and Social Security are not credible,” Domenici said. 

Also providing testimony were Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson, co-chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. 

Their recommendations take a similar approach to Rivli and Domenici’s plan of cutting $4 trillion over ten years, stabilizing debt as a percentage of GDP and putting it on a downward trajectory. 

On mandatory spending, Simpson and Bowles advised the committee to reduce low priority or wasteful spending, including subsidies that are poorly targeted or create perverse incentives. 

“This is the toughest thing you have ever been in or will ever be in without question. You have my deepest admiration and respect - all of you. And you all know what you have to do, in your gut, you know what you have to do,” said Simpson.