The big buzz on cable news this week is that the Super Committee failed when it couldn't come to a compromise on how to cut the federal budget by $1.5 trillion.
But the truth is that the American people won.
And now, we must keep on winning.
We won when Democrats on the Super Committee held their ground on the expiring Bush tax cuts on the wealthy.
Instead of focusing like a laser on job creation, conservative Republicans in Congress held our nation's finances hostage in July. To appease the hostage-takers, Congress created a closed-door committee to force through major cuts this fall.
Thankfully, enough Democrats held together on the Super Committee to stop severe cuts from going through. Many proposed to seek revenue from small tax increases for the wealthy and a tiny "Wall Street Tax" on risky stock trades. But those cries from the 99% fell on the deaf ears of conservatives on the Super Committee.
Progressives don't often battle the concentrated forces of corporations and their armies of lobbyists to a stalemate. For that reason, we can stop, reflect on a job well done, and thank the congressmen and women who stopped the worst from getting through.
But we're not out of the woods yet.
The so-called economic recovery hasn't reached the vast majority of jobseekers and homeowners who have been battered by the financial collapse and its aftermath. And the bill that created the Super Committee mandated massive cuts to education, health care, environmental regulation, and job creation in 2013. So we still have some work to do.
In fact, the fights coming up are likely to be brutal. The Super Committee trigger does not identify where the domestic cuts are coming from. And conservatives are already trying to roll back the trigger's cuts to the defense budget and replace them with deeper cuts to domestic programs. So we need to keep fighting if we want to protect the EPA, science, energy research and development, home weatherization, and other vital programs.
We also need to prepare for the fact that the deficit reduction battle will continue to rage in different forms, between now and the end of 2012. Throughout the election season, the same battle about extending Bush tax cuts for the rich (and maybe all the Bush tax cuts), cutting social programs and cutting defense will continue.
There is the possibility for a good outcome. Democrats have a tremendous amount of leverage, because the Bush tax cuts will automatically expire at the end of next year and $600 billion of cuts in defense will go into effect automatically [which would be truly historic] in January 2013 if Congress does nothing.
They can do it -- if they show the courage that we saw in the past few weeks by the Occupy The Highway marchers.
A handful of activists this week walked more than 200 miles to D.C. from Occupy Wall Street's "Liberty Park." They did so to make sure that Washington heard the cries of the 99% for fair treatment.
They pointed out that many students have already mortgaged their future for their education, only to graduate off a cliff into the worst job climate since the Great Depression. Seniors and veterans have already given much to this country and deserve fair treatment in return. These groups did not cause our fiscal and financial calamities.
The culprits are Bush's tax giveaways for the rich, lax oversight of Wall Street and endless wars. Any sacrifices to solve the problem should come primarily from those who enjoyed the tax breaks, bonuses and bailouts, not those who suffered.
Coming off this victory, people of conscience in Congress should follow the example of these marchers -- and go the extra distance to find real solutions for our country.
Follow Van Jones on Twitter: www.twitter.com/VanJones68
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You'll be a thing of the past come 2012. You'll be like so last year.
Am a big fan -- please keep writing.
The "failure" of the supercommittee is one of the biggest blows struck for freedom since Churchill stood off the Germans.
That was a backdoor move spurred by people who don't understand how democracy works. We pardon the brief interruption by those hellbent on the country's failure.
Back to democracy.
Occupy.
Unfortunately, the author doesn't understand the scope of the federal deficit. This deficit is not from Bush or Obama, it is from Congress which passes all bills dealing with money.
We have to reduce the deficit or in the future the US will be forced to deal with matters Greece and Italy are forced to deal with today. While we are a much bigger economy, you cannot maintain a permanent deficit without lower standards of living.
All of us must have skin in the game. We have to expect and accept a smaller government, reduced or eliminated programs, etc. Even when revenue increases it should first be restricted to pay down the deficit and not to increase entitllement programs.
We have to deal with decades of poor decisions made by both parties. But, are we to pass the problem on to our children? No, we have to reduce government spending now.
When the party running on smaller government wins, it puts its own sacred cows, OK calves, on the block first as a show of good faith that it means what it says.
Loser-pays government is how we got where we are.
Everyone-sacrifices is how families balance budgets, GOTea.
No matter how you look at it, trickled down economics do NOT work. With all the Bush tax cuts, they haven't created one job. As a matter of fact, they drove us in a huge recession. The wealthy aren't creating jobs with their tax cuts, they are banking them. Look at the numbers! While the middle class is shrinking, the upper 1% isn't growing. Just those in the 1% have growing bottom lines. It is the class of people living in poverty that is growing.
Are we saying, it is ok for us to turn into a third world country where children go hungry on the street and the main cause of death is starvation? Not me!
Are we forgetting that Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy and they actually did better than they are doing even now!
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You may view leaving Medicare as is as a victory but as a 30 year old, that only ensures that the program will not be there for someone like me.
Just pray they'll keep doing nothing so the Bush tax cuts -the single largest driver of the deficit- expire on schedule.
The supercommittee was no more legitimate than Mussolini's government. Its failure is a triumph of our democracy.
taxes are increased
loopholes are closed
entitlements are changed or cut
congress is held accountable
We will continue to have problems
I do disagree there is any "Coming off this victory"."
Obama has said he will Veto Military Spending and Welfare Programs. Instead he wants to extend Payroll Tax Cuts for the Worker and throw in an equal Payroll Tax Cut for the Rich businesses. This once again could have been used as a Bargaining chip. But Obama is playing politics with republicans showing his is willing to throw the worker and SSA receipients and SSA program under the bus. For just 1 Accomplishment to put on his ACHIEVEMENT card
I'm talking about a new proposal to rob from Social Security to fund a continuing tax break for people who don't need Social Security — the wealthy.
Make no mistake: This is a bipartisan effort. It started back in December, when President Obama capitulated to the GOP on a budget. deal by cutting the payroll tax, which funds Social Security.
-Hilzik
For a measly $1000 for each worker and $billion for the rich business and stock traders the Republicans and Democrats are Bipartisan while throwing SSA under the bus. 2 Trillion SSA DEBT in just 5 years. From the fanacy of the Debt debate by the Debt Creators and No Job Creators?
We can?