Tag: super committee

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Domestic Policies

Bernie Sanders – Disappointed, Not Surprised With Super Committee

Bernie Sanders, one of the only Senators in Congress who maintains a strong approval among the American people, (he’s often called “America’s Senator,”) expressed his frustrations with the failure of the Super Committee to reach a compromise on ways to effectively reduce the deficit. Saunders made the following statement;

“With a $15 trillion national debt, deficit reduction is clearly a huge issue for the country.  I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the super committee was unable to reach agreement.

“The American people have made it very clear that they believe the wealthiest people in the country – who are doing phenomenally well and are paying the lowest effective tax rate in decades – must start sharing some of the burden of deficit reduction. The American people have made it clear that they favor closing tax loopholes for profitable corporations. The American people have made it clear that it is time to take a hard look at mushrooming defense spending.

“Unfortunately, the Republicans in Congress won’t do what big majorities of Americans want Congress to do. The only way Republicans want to lower deficits is by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment, while providing even more tax breaks for millionaires and profitable corporations.

“Now, with more than one year to go before automatic spending cuts take effect, there is time for Congress to do what the American people want.”

Everyone knows what the American people want. The truth of the matter is, Republicans in this Congress just don’t care.

Categories
fail Politics

The Super Committee’s A Super Dud!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the American political system where political affiliation is more important than doing what’s right for the viability of the United States economy. The “Super Committee” is set to announce today that they failed to reach a compromise on bringing some stability to the nation’s runaway deficit crisis.

“I wouldn’t be optimistic. I don’t want to create any false hope here,” Republican Senator Jon Kyl said on Fox News. He said the panel would release a statement by the end of the day.

After a year of bruising budget battles, failure by the super committee is another sign that U.S. lawmakers are too entrenched to compromise on the tax increases and benefit cuts that budget experts say are needed to set the country’s finances on a stable path.

The failure will cement notions of a dysfunctional Washington among voters and investors already disenchanted with the brinkmanship that brought the country to the edge of a first-ever debt default in August.

Lawmakers likely will not return to the problem until 2013 at the earliest as they shift their attention to the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Budget skirmishes will continue over the coming months.

Republicans unwillingness to raise taxes on the top 1% and Democrats unwillingness to cut spending on programs that benefit the bottom 99% without raising taxes on the top 1% means that come 2013, programs that Republicans adore like the military budget will automatically be cut along with programs Democrats love, like some entitlement programs for the poor.

However, 2013 is still a long time away. If nothing is done now, you can be assured that somehow, these incompetent fools in Congress will manage to stop the automatic triggers set to begin because of this failure. Wait for it…!

Categories
Barack Obama Politics White House

President Promises To Veto Bill With Entitlement Cuts Alone

As the middle class continues to suffer, another Washington showdown has begun.

Last week, John Boehner made a statement in which he advised the Super Committee to keep taxes off the negotiating table, “it’s a very simple equation,” Boehner said, speaking to the Economic Club of Washington,”tax increases destroy jobs. And the Joint Committee is a jobs committee. Its mission is to reduce the deficit that is threatening job creation in our country.”

Boehner’s claims of course, are unfounded. Over the last 11 years, taxes on these “job creators” have been lower than in previous administrations, including the Clinton White House, where they paid more in taxes, and the economy flourished. If lowering taxes was the answer, the economy would be better now than it was under Clinton.

But back to the showdown…

After Boehner made his statement trying to influence the decisions being made in the Super Committee, whose job is to come up with another $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving, Senior White House officials told the Huffington Post that President Obama will veto any agreement that has only cuts in entitlement programs and no tax increase on the wealthy.

“[W]hat the president is saying is he is not doing [beneficiary reforms] if the Republicans are unwilling to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share,” explained a senior administration official. “What they can’t do is send something to us with the things we propose and without the stuff on the revenue side because we will veto that.”

In a speech today, the President will also outline a proposal to ask the top 3% of millionaire Americans to contribute at the same tax rate that middle class Americans pay.

If we are to draw a conclusion from previous showdowns between the White House and the Congressional Republicans, calling this a win for the no-compromising-Republicans would not be far-fetched. However, the Super Committee’s decision is above the influence threshold of Boehner and the Republicans.

Built into the agreement to raise the debt ceiling is specific language that governs how the Super Committee functions. And part of that language states that the President maintains his veto rights and can use those rights if he disagrees with the Committee’s recommendations. But if an agreement is not reached by the members of the Committee, a trigger mechanism automatically goes into effect, cutting funds from programs both Democrats and Republicans adore.

Hmmm, maybe the President did win the debt ceiling debate after all…!

 

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