Demo Rep. Barney Frank thinks super committee failure is “good news”

Democrats never planned for the super committee to succeed. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner were very naive to make a deal with Democrats.

(The Hill) — Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the congressional supercommittee’s failure Monday to come to an agreement on spending reforms was “good news” because it will help to end the Bush-era tax cuts and give Democrats more bargaining power in budget negotiations.
Groups on the edges of both the liberal and conservative spectrums have cheered the death of the supercommittee. Liberal groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee were happy that programs such as Social Security and Medicare were spared, while Tea Party conservative groups applauded the breakdown in talks because no tax increases emerged from the deficit-reduction panel.

The supercommittee’s failure to reach an agreement sets in motion $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts set to take effect in 2013 through sequestration.

Half of those cuts are to defense initiatives, which has hawks in Congress vowing to undo them. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said Monday that he was readying a bill that would prevent the defense cuts.

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House Speaker John Boehner points supercommittee failure finger of blame at President Obama

Speaker Boehner has a point. President Obama demanded the supercommittee find an additional $450 billion for his proposed "Porkulus II" stimulus bill. Republicans ignored that demand, but the Democrats on the committee couldn't.

(The Hill)- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is blaming President Obama for the failure of the congressional supercommittee to reach a deal for cutting the federal deficit.

The Speaker’s office sent out a memo Monday morning that says the supercommittee “was unable to reach agreement because President Obama and Washington Democrats insisted on dramatic tax hikes on American job creators, which would make our economy worse.”

The memo from Boehner’s office says Obama set the deficit panel up for failure by demanding it become the vehicle for economic stimulus.

“The President designed a political strategy that doomed the committee to failure first by insisting the committee include $450 billion of his failed stimulus policies in any agreement, making deficit reduction much harder and second by issuing a veto threat warning he would not accept an agreement that did not include a job-killing tax increase,” the memo obtained by The Hill states.

Shocker: President Obama blames Republicans for Super Committee failure

Perhaps President Obama should have been more engaged.

President Obama blames Republicans for Super Committee failure (video)


How does this vitriol fit into President Obama's promise to change the culture in Washington?

Super Committee is Super Failure

Like nobody saw this coming. This is what happens when you make a deal with democrats. Let's hope John Boehner and Mitch McConnell lean a hard lesson.

(Roll Call) — The super committee has officially failed.

In a joint news release, Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction Co-Chairmen Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said they concluded today that they will not be able to make “any bipartisan agreement” public before the deadline.

The brief statement was mostly positive and forward-looking, saying the co-chairmen were “disappointed” at the failure but “hopeful” that Congress would act in its place.

“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve,” the statement said.

The two also said they hoped Congress could “build on this committee’s work.”

Fail: Democrats on "super committee" shift focus to failure announcement

They should have had their failure announcement ready a long time ago. It is obvious they had no intention of making any serious budget cuts. Their failure announcement will go something like this: blame Republicans, blame Bush, blame Tea Party, blame Grover Norquist, blame FOX News, blah, blah, blah...

Washington (CNN) -- Members of the "super committee" charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion in budget cuts are focused on how to announce failure to reach a deal, Democratic and Republican aides confirmed to CNN Sunday.

While aides said no final decision had been made, they acknowledged that -- barring an unforeseen development -- an announcement of an end to negotiations is the most likely scenario.

Talks on trying to reach a deficit reduction agreement are essentially over and discussions are focused on a Monday announcement, a senior Democratic aide said.

Another senior Democratic source said, "No decisions or agreement has been reached concerning any announcement or how this will end. But, yes, the likely outcome is no agreement will be reached.

Democrats walk away from super committee negotiations

Republicans have reportedly offered $300 billion in new revenue, but democrats aren't even interested in making a counter offer.



Having the super committee fail looks like liberals plan all along.

(OTM) — A Democratic legislator said it would be fine with him if the supercommittee failed to reach agreement and steep, automatic cuts to domestic and defense spending happened.

“I hope that they cannot reach an agreement,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said, according to Capital New York.

If the super committee can not come to an agreement, there will be severe cuts in defense spending. This has long been a liberal goal. 

AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka threatens Supercommittee Democrats over social program cuts

The Supercommittee is doomed to fail. Democrats and their supporters are not serious about cutting spending. They only want to raise taxes and keep the gravy train rolling to their constituents.

(The Hill) — ...The AFL-CIO chief said he was surprised that Democrats on the deficit panel proposed cuts to social programs.

“I have personally talked to members of that committee and told them that this was the wrong direction to go in,” Trumka said. “So the question was, was I surprised? Yes, I was surprised to see some of the suggestions coming out of the Democratic side.”

The labor leader noted that the AFL-CIO’s state affiliates pick which candidates to endorse in congressional races. But he said anyone who votes for cuts to social programs would likely risk the support of unions come next election.

“This is the one of things that will be considered when we do endorsements,” Trumka said. “Although I have a tough time envisioning us endorsing people who actually voted for major cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

Dems on deficit reduction Supercommittee can't find cuts; suggest billions in stimulus and trillions in taxes

This has to be the least shocking story of the month.

(The Hill/OTM) — Democrats on the congressional supercommittee this week presented Republicans with a plan to cut the deficit that included billions of dollars in stimulus spending, aides told The Hill.

In a private meeting of the deficit panel Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, presented a proposal backed by a majority of Democrats on the panel that includes trillions of dollars in tax increases. The revenue would partially cover stimulus spending for the economy, aides said.

More than 50 percent of the deficit reduction in the plan would come from tax increases, one source said.

The plan from Democrats approaches the $3 trillion in deficit reduction that was included in the “grand bargain” that lawmakers debated over the summer.

Senate Democrats on Debt Reduction Super Committee Want to Increase Stimulus Spending

What? They want to twist the debt reduction super committee into a venue to increase spending. This shouldn't be shocking. Back in 2009, VP Joe Biden wanted us to spend our way out of bankruptcy. Democrats think spending is the solution to all problems.

(The Hill) — Senate Democrats on the super committee say the group needs to include stimulus for the economy in the deficit-reduction plan it has been tasked with producing by Thanksgiving.

The three Senate Democrats serving on the 12-member deficit supercommittee outlined their approach to the talks in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday.

Supercommittee Co-Chairwoman Patty Murray (Wash.) and Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.) and John Kerry (Mass.) said the supercommittee needs to make jobs a top priority.

“We know that our goal is to reduce spending. But we also know that America faces not just a budget deficit but also a jobs deficit. Nobody on this committee would be happy if we reduced the budget deficit but even more Americans end up losing their jobs,” Murray, Baucus and Kerry wrote in the op-ed.

Senate Democrats tried to get stimulus measures in the debt-ceiling deal but failed. They were seeking a, extension to the payroll tax holiday, extension of unemployment insurance and new infrastructure spending.