Super Committee Failure: Bush Tax Cuts Obstacle To Deal (UPDATE)

The leaders of a special deficit reduction panel signaled Sunday that they will fail to strike a deal to reduce the deficit before their Wednesday deadline.

Republican opposition to taxing the rich is the main obstacle, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"There is one sticking divide, and that is the issue of what I call shared sacrifice, where everybody contributes in a very challenging time for our country," Murray said. "That's the Bush tax cuts. In making sure that any kind of package includes everybody coming to the table and the wealthiest of Americans, those who earn over a million dollars every year, have to share, too. And that line in the sand, we haven't seen any Republicans willing to cross yet."

Murray is the co-chair of the special panel assigned to strike a deficit deal by Thanksgiving to prevent huge automatic cuts. The failure of the 12-member super committee, as it's known, will supposedly result in $1.2 trillion worth of discretionary and military spending cuts. However, as HuffPost reported in September, Congress has plenty of time to intervene before the automatic cuts take effect in 2013.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Murray's Republican counterpart, was also a downer on Sunday morning.

"Nobody wants to give up hope. Reality is to some extent starting to overtake hope," Hensarling said on "Fox News Sunday." "Talks have taken place over the weekend and they will continue to take place. But the reality is we need to come to an agreement, we have to get it drafted, and we have to get an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office by the end of Monday. It is a daunting challenge."

Asked whether Democrats had budged on reforming entitlement programs or whether Republicans had budged on tax cuts, Hensarling said, "We'll not give up hope."

Repubicans reportedly put forward a token offer last week and Democrats rejected it. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), a member of the panel, said on Fox Sunday that changes to entitlement programs were "on the table." In particular, Becerra suggested openness by Democrats to raising the Medicare eligibility age, which is currently 65, and reducing cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries, though he said he opposed those options.

A big super committee deal would be a convenient way for Congress to reauthorize extended unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut, both set to expire at the end of the year. Economists say the expiration of those items, which provided $300 a week to millions of jobless and $1,000 to most Americans, respectively, could reduce economic growth by 1.7 percentage points next year.

"2012 is shaping up to be a tough year because the super committee decided to punt," economist Mark Zandi said on Fox.

UPDATE (10:15 p.m.): Sources tell Reuters that the committee's top Republican and Democrat will declare on Monday that they have been unable to reach a deal.

Comments

[effiejones]

10:20 PM on 11/21/2011

They should be fired! thats what happens when you dont do your job

[evan7607]

08:27 PM on 11/21/2011

Super committee . lol. Did clinton have a super committee???? Biz lady ?????????? The super committee failed oh realy ??? Where they supposed to ??? Where is our president??????????????????????

[Liberal all the way]

01:03 AM on 12/20/2011

Where is our president?

Watching this crash and burn experiment crash and burn.

Obama did the right thing by keeping himself as far away from this epic fail as possible. Plus not to mention the arrogance of them trying to undermine his executive authority.

We knew you losers wouldn't do anything. this was another "we don't want Obama calling the shots" attempt... and you shot yourselves in the foot Republicans.

[smaynard]

07:41 PM on 11/21/2011

So what is shared sacrifice?

[lisa a]

10:45 PM on 11/21/2011

You giving your hard earned dollars to the non workers.

[smaynard]

07:09 PM on 11/22/2011

Thank you Lisa P. I was hoping for a liberal/socialist answer. It seems to be at the heart of their belief system. Also everyone should "pay their fare share" is another one. I would like an answer without hatefull remakes instantly thrown at me. I would like to understand that line of thought.

[smaynard]

07:19 PM on 11/22/2011

I`m sorry Lisa A. I should have paid more attention

[Liberal all the way]

01:06 AM on 12/20/2011

When I make profit in this country and instead of asking for a billion dollar handout i pay the taxes I am supposed to pay.

But then again i wouldn't be a fortune 500 corporation now would I?

220 of them got welfare checks totaling $280 billion dollars, paid zero tax and did bring a lot of money in as profit.

Much worse than the poor lady who got a welfare check isn't it/

But go ahead attack the lady.

[PotomacOracle]

07:36 PM on 11/21/2011

In America, you have to pay American taxes to the IRS with American dollars. So demand for the currency, otherwise worthless bits of paper, is driven by the fact that all tax obligations have to be extinguished with that currency.

Once you consider that, then you immediately realize that the national government is the monopoly issuer of that currency. That means that the national government can never be short of that currency; it can never run out of money. It doesn’t need you or I to lend it money or pay taxes to get more money. That’s the first basic insight of Modern Monetary Theory: governments are not constrained in their spending by a need to raise revenue.

If you extend that logic a little further, you might ask, “Well, don’t we pay taxes and buy bonds so that the government can spend?” Well, you first have to ask yourself the question, “Where do you get the money to pay taxes and buy bonds?” And the answer is that we can’t get our hands on the currency until the national government spends it. Spending is the prior act in a fiat monetary system; taxing and borrowing are following acts. The government is only taxing what it has already spent, and it’s only borrowing back money that it has already spent. Once you start pursuing this logic, you realize that most of the propositions that are occupying the current debate around the world are based upon false premises.

[Jefferson78]

10:08 PM on 11/21/2011

BS. Money represents the work and savings of Americans. It is our money, not the national government that serves at our pleasure. Taxation is taking one man's property using the police powers of the state. It should only be done for serious reasons. Taking to give to another is not one of those reasons. Try a church or civic club for your charity.

[Tara Elliott]

02:18 AM on 11/22/2011

Taxes don't just go to "charity". They build roads, schools, parks, plenty of things that you teabaggers enjoy using. We ALL are responsible for paying our share.

[Liberal all the way]

01:07 AM on 12/20/2011

Yes I agree,

Fortune 500 companies should not get $280 billion dollars of my tax dollars! Why do you think they got away with my money Jeff? $280 billion!

Tell it Jefferson!

[smaynard]

07:16 PM on 11/22/2011

So you are saying that the Government can just print more money. It doesn`t need the peoples money ,it can just print money. So why does the government need more tax money? Why talk about raising taxes on the rich? The government can just create its own wealth.

[BiznessLady]

06:26 PM on 11/21/2011

We have tried this division thing and tax cuts and they are not working. We had some growth after the stimulus and later found that the whole of the recession was much deeper then first believed so we have come from a very bad place.

I am not interested in placing blame, just in sound logical movement. There is no money trickling down guys. We can't continue to reward those who ship our jobs overseas with tax cuts when they are paying less tax then they ever had in history. it would make sense to close most loopholes for the wealthy and rescind the Bush tax cuts and put in place reforms that spur local job growth.

If it was such a bad climate overall to create jobs here then why are so many foreign companies building products here and seeking to build a market here using locals? They are helping to spur those numbers in private sector job growth. They have more belief in us then we have in ourselves.

Pt 2

[BiznessLady]

06:26 PM on 11/21/2011

I just said this in a comment but I neeeeeed to repeat it.

To all the Tea Party/ GOP/ Independents/ Apathetic... Hell to EVERYONE!

I am no more the enemy then you are and you need to get a grip and recognize that there are people who have a vested interest in keeping us from coming together and kicking their butts.

When I hire people I don't ask them what party they support. We have an interfaith council with virtually every denomination present and I disagree with many people on biblical interpretation, birth control and gay rights and hosts of other issues but those differences never come to light as they don't matter any more.

We have bigger fish to fry and we are all in the same boat. When my neighbor forecloses it affects my property value. When people don't have money they can't support our businesses, my tenants lose jobs they can't pay me rent and I have to cut back to cover my mortgage and that can mean me cutting jobs or salaries to increase revenue which perpetuates the cycle.

Pt 1

[Jefferson78]

10:10 PM on 11/21/2011

When you go to someone who bought a house they could afford and who is trying to make ends meet, and tell them you are going to take more of their money to pay off the mortgage of your neighbor who bought more house than he could afford, you are stealing and perverting our entire social system.

[BiznessLady]

11:12 PM on 11/21/2011

Who does that? Who is paying the mortgage off for someone else involuntarily? Surely you are dreaming!

[BiznessLady]

11:17 PM on 11/21/2011

It would be nice if you would get off this meme of handouts and welfare. No one here is asking for that.

People want their loans modified to a rate that they can afford on their newly limited income. It would make sense that if your neighbor and his wife lost their jobs that you would help them get a new one and stop crying about your tax dollars helping anyone. God forbid you get in a crash or get ill and need some help. Karma is a doozy, honeybunch!

[Steve Burwell]

06:22 PM on 11/21/2011

It all starts at the ballot box. Put people in who care about people, not $$$$$. Here's some suggestions: Flat tax. No loopholes; no more getting back more than you pay in for anybody. Everybody pays based on gross revenues or gross income. IRS becomes small time collection agency they were meant to be. Term limits for Congress. If it's good enough for the President, they should be no different. No more career rides. Same thing for that golden retirement plan and health care package Congress gets. Give 'em what every regular Fed gets...not a penny more. But I don't think it will happen. For every one of us who will fight and march and camp and write letters and vote (while still working for a living) there will be two who will eat up the slop the GOP feeds them. They just don't get it. Just look at the crop of hopefuls now, lining up to take pot shots at the "occupy" people for exercising their right to free assembly. And all of those red Southern states, where there are no jobs because the people they elected helped ship them all overseas in return for having gold-lined pockets from corporate donations. The "supercommittee" can do nothing because the Tea Partiers are vowing to have the head of any Republican who raises taxes even one cent. This is not a democracy. This is two heavyweights slugging it out over the money you paid to get in to watch.

[BiznessLady]

06:46 PM on 11/21/2011

We have much common ground and many differences, I choose to dwell where we agree. There should be term limits but what also is scary is the newcomers who have no idea what it takes to legislate. Those who have such animosity to people on the other side of the aisle as if they are mortal enemies and not there to serve a common purpose.

I guess my point is that there are no easy answers as we do need seasoned legislators to get things done effectively, it is a damn if you do, damn if you don't thing.

I've dealt with small-time collection agencies that had me confused with someone else with my same name and assigned me their debt and I definitely don't want our IRS to be that inefficient.

Reasonable Republicans need to stand with those who have been willing to stand up against the likes of Grover Nordquist who has threatened the re-election of any who come forward to support a balanced deficit reduction plan.

It seems that back in 2008 they defected from the party. It is a shame that Republican candidates that I happen to admire and respect have no voice in this primary. I may disagree with them but that does not preclude respect. Remember those days?

[grumpyrich]

05:56 PM on 11/21/2011

maybe my memory is not serving me well, but, bush's tax cuts were to give back to the american people the 3 trillion dollar surplus he walked into after the clintons left office, that is what is now called the bush tax cuts, it was to be in effect 3 years to share the money over the nation, then it was to end, well, its a long time since those 3 years were over and the republicans want to continue giving a tax cut that we can't afford, we never could really, we were just being given back the surplus at the time. when are they all gonna wake up and stop shafting the american people, anyone that would vote in the next election for any incumbent needs their heads examined! we were in enough of a mess without them continuing to bury us with their inaction and refusal to work out an equitable plan.

[MarsAmbassador]

05:05 PM on 11/21/2011

The cuts have already been decided and this was all just political kabuki theater for our benefit, anyways. Make us think that our elected representatives, and therefore We The People, were actually a part of this process. A sham like so many other shams in this Age of Corporatism.

You want to make a difference? Move your money to a local community bank or credit union and buy your Christmas presents from local independent merchants. No Big Box stores, no Big Banks.

[CaptainRenault]

05:00 PM on 11/21/2011

I knew that these TP brainiacs would screw it up with their insistence on keeping the Bush tax cuts and failing to close the corporate tax loopholes.

I can't wait for 2012. These guys are going to get blasted!

^ ^

[Joemama54]

04:23 PM on 11/21/2011

I think I understand now.
If congress does nothing, we will raise taxes when the Bush tax cuts expire.
If congress does nothing, we will cut our defense budget in half.
If congress does nothing, we will decrease the deficit by 7 trillion dollars.
This all won't happen for another year, so that the economy won't take a hit until fiscal year. 2013.
Sounds like a plan to me.
The Do Nothing Congress.
Saving America One Gridlock At a Time

[BiznessLady]

04:35 PM on 11/21/2011

you need medication and a math tutor

[Joemama54]

02:50 AM on 11/22/2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/why-doing-nothing-yields-71-trillion-in-deficit-cuts/2011/11/16/gIQAsOdwRN_blog.html

As to your comment about my math skills, please see the above link to a collumn by E.J. Dionne.

Anonymity seems to make posters more willing to say rude things on line that they would never say in person if their idendity were known.
I wonder if you would have written the same thing if you had to sign your own name to what you wrote.

[Linda Edmondson]

04:09 PM on 11/21/2011

This Country is in Crisis, what part of that do you not understand? I'm genuinely disgusted with this argument as to who pays what taxes.

We are not stupid!
Even if the poor paid untill they starved and were put on the street, homeless, it would not be enough.

The Corporations have a ticket for a free ride for a long time and all know it , time to pay up and shut up. Now , the 1% , the wealthy who think everyone is picking on them, why don't you go to France, England, Italy to live you sure can afford it, is it because they would tax you out of this world. The good old USA is so wealthy friendly that you stay here and lie about how little taxes you really pay.

I'm not finished, we are part of the problem, take a look in the mirror, you see that stupid person. Did you allow this to happen? Because it did't happen by it's self, those nitwits in Congress did not get there on there own.

If you stand for what they continue to do, you are worse than they are and have no right to complain.

L

[BiznessLady]

04:37 PM on 11/21/2011

f & f Madam

[Mugzi]

05:20 PM on 11/21/2011

I'm grateful that someone is standing for middle class...if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!

[Charles Mills]

03:47 PM on 11/21/2011

"The super committee decided to punt"... never mind the fact that they were punting the punt!

[gomezrules]

03:43 PM on 11/21/2011

I knew it! I KNEW IT! It's BUSH'S fault! I just knew it! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

[gracieallen234]

04:12 PM on 11/21/2011

hahahahhahahahhahhahahhah Dems driving in a car looking in the rearview mirror..trying to figure out the future!

[CaptainRenault]

05:03 PM on 11/21/2011

No this time it's the righty ideologues who want to continue the nonsense that the Bushies tried and didn't work.

^ ^

[BiznessLady]

02:48 PM on 11/21/2011

I have never met a bunch of people so dead set on fighting when we should be moving forward together.
The election of Pres. Obama has pulled the bandage off of hate and intolerance and people need to get real with the real source of their discontent and come together. It is sad to not be self aware and denial festers like a disease to the soul. The only cure is truth, understanding and acceptance. But you first have to have the will and desire to face unflattering things about one's self.

This Super Committee is not moving forward because the Democrats refuse to be the only party to compromise.

They will not cut the deficit on the backs of the middle class alone. The GOP offered tax increases in one hand while instituting major tax cuts in the other resulting in a deficit increase. I am looking for measured reasonable proposals from anybody and I have agreed with many GOP proposals in the past, not on this one.

Grover Nordquist has promised to squash the reelection of any official that votes for tax increases of any kind. They saw what a Tea Party candidate can do to an incumbent Republican.

He is a lobbyist for the rich hijacking our economy and our future. If you support his views all I ask is that you ask yourself why and see if it is based on measured logical reasoning, based on independent facts and not emotions.

[Charles Mills]

03:48 PM on 11/21/2011

"This Super Committee is not moving forward because the Democrats refuse to be the only party to compromise­."
VERY well stated. When YOU are the only compromising it's called defeat.

[gracieallen234]

04:16 PM on 11/21/2011

hmm Nancy Pelosi's constituency has the most waivers out of Obamacare. Her company fights to keep unions out of her wine business? Michelle Obama said she hated America? Um Pres. Obama's mom was pregnant by a married man at age 17 and her parents paid for and basically raised Barry. So.I'm having trouble with the hypocrisy??

[Mugzi]

05:18 PM on 11/21/2011

AND republicans hate Americans...that is as perposterous statement as those you made...