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Feb. 8, 2013
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Jewish World Review
Nov 23, 2011
/ 26 Mar-Cheshvan 5772
Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion
By
Dale McFeatters
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee was not necessarily destined to fail, but it was always a long shot at best.
Its dozen members conceded Monday what the Associated Press termed "ignominious defeat," but a failure to work miracles is hardly ignominious. And a miracle is what the panel would have needed in agreeing on $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over a decade.
Congressional and presidential commissions, task forces and panels work best when there is broad agreement on the goals and the means to get there. These groups also give lawmakers political cover for courses of action that may prove temporarily unpopular.
The two sides on the supercommittee agreed on the goal of bringing a national debt that has reached $15 trillion under control. There was no agreement on means. The Democrats want to reach it mainly by raising revenues, taxes, if you will; the Republicans want to do so by major cuts in federal spending.
There were some credible efforts at compromise by various panel members, but they were shot down, often by the leaders of their own parties. Co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said efforts would continue even after Wednesday's official deadline, but they are likely to be desultory and it's difficult to envision a scenario for success.
What is sometimes dismissed as partisan bickering is, in fact, deep philosophical division. But for fans of largely political posturing, there is plenty of grandstanding to come.
Next month, Congress must decide whether to extend President Barack Obama's temporary 2 percent cut in the payroll tax, whether to renew his extended unemployment benefits and somehow reverse a planned 27 percent cut in payments to doctors treating Medicare patients.
And, let us not forget, only one of the 12 spending bills for government operations that were supposed to have been finished by Sept. 30 has been passed and signed by the president. Seven other bills are mostly done; and on four measures only one house has acted.
If there is no action as the end of the year approaches, the practice has been to roll the leftover measures into one bill and push it over to the next session. These bills are often messy and contentious because they offer one of the rare opportunities that lawmakers have left to slip in special-interest measures.
Congress rarely hangs around much in January, but in February Obama sends his fiscal 2013 budget to the Hill. Meanwhile, the House and Senate are supposed to come up with their own budgets. The House will; the Senate, again, may not get around to it.
If Congress can't agree on $1.2 trillion in tax hikes and spending cuts, those cuts go into effect automatically across-the-board in January 2013. Congressional Republicans, who got themselves into this trap, hope to avoid those cuts, especially in defense, that the Pentagon says will leave a hollow military.
Those cuts will be deeply unpopular with the public, but Obama says he will veto any attempts by the Republicans to get around them. "There will be no easy off-ramps on this one," he said.
If so, there will be a pretty spectacular collision that may make the country yearn for the days of endless bickering.
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Previously:
• 11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
• 11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
• 11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
• 11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
• 11/16/11 Clinton's vast experiences: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
• 11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
• 11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
• 11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
• 11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
• 11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
• 11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
• 11/03/11 Bank listens very closely to customer lynch mob
• 11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from core socialist values
• 10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
• 10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
• 10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
• 10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
• 10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
• 10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
• 10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
• 10/18/11 U.S. plans limited mission in an Africa with no limits
• 10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
• 10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
• 10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
• 10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
• 10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
• 10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
• 09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
• 09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
• 09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
• 09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
• 09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
• 09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
• 09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
• 09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
• 09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
• 09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
• 09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
• 09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
• 09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
• 09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
• 09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
• 09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
• 08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
• 08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
• 08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
• 08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
• 08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
• 08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
• 08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
• 08/16/11: Super Committee starts facing reality
• 08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
• 08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
• 08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
• 08/10/11: House pages run final errands
• 08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
• 08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
• 08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
• 08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a parasite. He should be so lucky
• 08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
• 08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
• 08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
• 07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
• 07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
• 07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
• 07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
• 07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
• 07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
• 07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
• 06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
• 06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh
© 2011, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
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