McConnell, Boehner Make Deficit Committee Appointments

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders of the House and Senate announced their picks Wednesday for the "super Congress" deficit committee slated with finding about $1.5 trillion in savings. Their announcement comes a day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed three Democrats to the 12-member commission.

On the Senate side, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will serve on the commission, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced. Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) will represent House Republicans, said Speaker John Boehner.

All six Republicans have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform that they will not vote to raise taxes.

They will join Democratic Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), whom Reid appointed to the commission on Tuesday. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not yet made her appointments.

One surprise in the Republican announcement was the exclusion of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who put out the House-passed budget last spring. But Ryan said in a statement Wednesday that he asked Boehner not to consider him for the committee, so that he could keep his full attention on the budget process.

"The Speaker has chosen three excellent Republican members to serve on this Joint Committee in Chairmen Hensarling, Upton and Camp," Ryan said. "As Budget Committee chairman, my plan has long been to work on this critical issue throughout the fall."

Boehner's picks came from the leadership of his party. Camp is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committees, while Upton leads the committee on Energy and Commerce. Hensarling is chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Hensarling called the nation's debt "a legitimate threat to our nation's future" and said it is time for Washington to tighten its belt.

"This commission will not be able to solve the crisis in a matter of months, but we can work together to tackle these challenges in order to bring back jobs, hope and opportunity for the America people," he said in a statement.

So far, only two freshmen have been chosen for the commission. Toomey, who was elected to the Senate last fall, has taken a hard-line stance on budget issues, arguing the debt should be prioritized over all else until the country can adopt a budget that gets the deficit under control. Portman serves on the Senate Budget Committee.

Kyl, the Republican Whip, is part of the Senate minority leadership.

UPDATE: 2:15 p.m. -- Grover Norquist, president of the anti-tax-increase Americans for Tax Reform, tweeted in response to the "super Congress" news on Wednesday afternoon.

"Boehner and McConnell appoint friends of taxpayers to the 'Debt Super Committee' your wallet is safe," he wrote.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated that Toomey was the sole freshman legislator on the commission. Portman is also a freshman.

Jennifer Bendery contributed to this report.

Comments

[Rupertm1975]

08:53 AM on 10/04/2011

‎435 Congressman is way too many. Nothing positive can get done with that unweildy number. We need to downsize the number to 365. I realize it will dilute our representation, but it will also have the affect of making it more difficult for extremists on both sides from getting elected. Oh, and the give the remaining Congressman 20% pay raises. Pass it On.

[GoodDay]

06:50 PM on 08/16/2011

If Ryan thinks these Republican members are excellent, watch them destroy Social Security and Medicare.

[maxhnb]

09:03 AM on 08/13/2011

They probably believe that their pledge not to raise taxes is in their own and their sposnors best interests.

[HooYoo2say]

07:17 PM on 08/12/2011

Grover Norquist, president of the anti-tax-increase Americans for Tax Reform, tweeted in response to the "super Congress" news on Wednesday afternoon.

"Boehner and McConnell appoint friends of taxpayers to the 'Debt Super Committee' your wallet is safe," he wrote.

I think Norquist meant to tweet they appointed friends of non-taxpayers.

[missouriwatcher]

10:56 AM on 08/12/2011

Why I will NEVER vote for a Republican: Grover Norquist owns their little souls and they are incapable of thinking for themselves.

[lvdragonlady]

12:36 AM on 08/12/2011

Note to the %^*&*&* GOP -
I am not even close to rich or well off and would prefer NOT to be taxed UNTIL THE CORPORATIONS AND THE WEALTH pay their FAIR share but taxes help in too many ways not to pay them and personally I feel the rest of America should understand that.

[krist6804]

05:11 PM on 08/11/2011

When was the last time congress did anything that could qualify as "super" with respect to positive and fantastic results for the people.

The super duper 12 will deliver pitiful and embarrassing results for sure. I hope they surprise us and I have to eat these words.

[Watching rock grow]

04:27 PM on 08/11/2011

Not at all impressed with Boehner’s, and McConnell’s choices from states with the most regressive Republicans on record. Defense cuts here we come, finally.

[ciara500]

08:35 PM on 08/11/2011

WHY NOT????

[Barry Jolly]

03:56 PM on 08/11/2011

"All six Republicans have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform that they will not vote to raise taxes."

....and so the fiasco starts even before the committee begin its work. This is how comprimise works?

[tklinecrew]

01:56 PM on 08/11/2011

The taking points from both sides are truly amazing. The same things regurgitated over and over and over. Step back, take off the party glasses and see what is really going on.

[kwoodgr]

01:49 PM on 08/11/2011

If you signed the Grover Norquist pledge, do you have any credibility at all?

[krist6804]

01:46 PM on 08/11/2011

In this country of "in God we trust" we have a very big problem. You see God, we can not trust our congress. Please God, can you help us out?

[ciara500]

08:36 PM on 08/11/2011

I would have said our government....all of them.

[DanBeach]

01:34 PM on 08/11/2011

The corporate owned GOP is willing to ignore the will of the people and cause pain for a majority of Americans in order to serve the interests of the wealthy... and with the citizens united decision and so many right leaning federal courts, the slide towards complete corporate ownership of our democracy is a real possibility.

One of the many many lies republicans love to tell is that deregulation and lower taxes on corporations and the rich creates jobs. Even though the truth is easily available, they simply keep repeating this fantasy.

Fact: Since 1937 higher taxes on top rates have had no positive effect on job creation. In 1948 the top tax rate was 80% and unemployment was 4% - in the 1980's top tax rates were 70% and the unemployment rate was 7.5% - Fact: When Bush Jr. lowered top rates to 35% unemployment began climbing and we had THE worst job creation on record. Although the slide has been slowed, we are still allowing corporations and the wealthy to pay historically low taxes...if they pay taxes at all. And we still suffer from high unemployment. Same old story.

[DanBeach]

01:24 PM on 08/11/2011

Only 375,000 Americans have incomes of over $1,000,000

Between 1979 and 2007, incomes for the wealthiest 1% of Americans rose by 281%

During the Great Depression, millionaires had a top marginal tax rate of 68%

In 1963, millionaires had a top marginal tax rate of 91%

In 1976, millionaires had a top marginal tax rate of 70%

Today, millionaires have a top marginal tax rate of 35%

Reducing the income tax on top earners is one of the most inefficient ways to grow the economy according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

44% of Congress people are millionaires. The tax cuts were never meant to be permanent
Letting tax cuts for the top 2% expire as scheduled would pay down the debt by $700 billion over the next 10 years

http://patrioticmillionaires.org/

[hangdogit]

05:44 PM on 08/11/2011

Another irony about those Bush tax cuts: The epic efforts of both the Deficit Commission -- and the WH negotiations over the debt ceiling -- tried BUT FAILED to reduce the deficit by approximately the same amount as those Bush tax cuts cost -- about $4T over a decade. So simply doing NOTHING fiscal in 12/2010 and letting them expire would have made both efforts redundant.

[Hokeysmokes]

01:18 PM on 08/11/2011

America asks for compromise and this is what the re-thugs trot out. Boehner and McConnell have already taken serious hits in their leadership disapproval ratings, but once again demonstrate no new ideas. Police forces are being cut back, fire stations shuttered... and they select ideologue hacks that have signed Grover Norquist's no tax pledge.

The GOP: A faith based commitment to catastrophe.