Elaine Thompson/AP; Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Super committee co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray (file) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (file)
Congressional leaders appointed nearly all of the members on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. We're still waiting on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's three appointees. Those are expected to come in soon.
Comprised of 12 members, the bi-partisan committee is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans and each chamber. They've got until Thanksgiving to figure out at least $1.2 trillion dollars in government savings.
Today, House Majority Leader John Boehner appointed Rep. Jeb Hensarling to serve as a co-chair. He's also the Republican Conference Chairman. Congressmen Dave Camp, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, and Fred Upton, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, will join as well.
Rounding out the GOP field, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his three appointments today: Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, who's on the Finance Committee. Sen. Rob Portman and tea party fave Patrick Toomey, who both serve on the Budget committee.
I should note, all of these guys signed Grover Norquist's pledge, promising to never ever raise taxes under any circumstances.
Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his picks to so the so-called debt super committee. He tapped Sen. Patty Murray to serve as co-chair. She leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry were also selected to join the JSC.
Reid came up with the JSC idea during the debt ceiling negotiations, and the creation of the super committee was mandated in the final deal.
Will these lawmakers be able to avoid gridlock if half of the members refuse to raise revenues going into these talks? Please tweet me your opinion.
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There is no need for any cuts. Just let ALL the Bush Tax Cuts expire!! Would not this amount to $4 trillion, if I remember correctly? Checked taxes paid for a MFJ for 2000 and that paid in 2010. TAXABLE income for this family earning $25,000 in 2010 would have paid only $838 more, 50,000-$1641 more. Who is the President protecting? Certainly not this group and definitely not those earning less. He is certainly not protecting those on Social Security, disabled, Retirees, College students, children, those collecting unemployment, those who are unemployed. Obama has drawn the line in the sand with the wrong issue. Protect our programs, not taxes!! Who is he hoodwinking?
Lydia- you speak in like mind with me. Forget about tax cuts for the rich. The Bush tax cuts were agreed to by both parties, went to everyone. There was a 10 year limit on them. Follow Alan Greenspan's advice and let them all expire. That would raise significant revenue, and cost everyone.
Thank you Rusty
This is the most gutless approach Congresscould have taken to avoid discussion on the issuesthat are vital to manyand can now just be decided by a completed ' super' Committee action without the transparencythat should be our right.
i believe that the republicans want to make the tax cuts permanent, if there is any way to do that. as unfortunate as this deficit is, the republicans and baggers are using it to do what they see as advantageous. it makes the president look bad, and it is also justifies to them making cuts to programs that the republicans have long hated, like medicare, medicaid and social security. as eric cantor said, "promises will have to be broken".
i believe that the republican party sees this defict as an opportunity to stand their ground and remain immovable, refusing even to accept or compromise with the president on things that THEY WANT OR HAVE AGREED TO BEFORE. the president has put several republican ideas on the table in an effort to move things forward by WORKING TOGETHER, but the republicans have refused. our President has not been perfect either, but i have seen him step too far to the right (in my view) to get things done, yet the republicans and fox news continue to label him as a socialist, when those of us who ARE liberal know that this President is a moderate democrat, and NOT a socialist in any way. some call him divisive, but that is only because, for the most part, republicans are making a big deal where there should be none. they will not meet President Obama in any way even when he puts THEIR ideas on the table. he has moved too far to the right as far as most democrats are concerned.
when the tax cuts expire, as they should, i simply cannot imagine that the republicans will sit back and just take it. maybe if some sort of tax reform is done, they MIGHT agree to it. basically, the tax cut expiration occurs at the right time for the republican party, at the end of the President's first term, not in time to do any good for this president, unless he is elected for a second term. if a republican is elected president, with a super majority, then i will predict that the tax cuts will be reinstated and made permanent and they will cut everything in sight to the detriment of the elderly, the disabled and the vulnerable, which will hurt the economy even more.
maybe grover norquist will come up with a new pledge; to make the tax cuts permanent.
Lets keep it simple. Recall the OBAMACARE and Obama him self together with all his socialist/communist like spooky dude g.soros - van jones - code pink and the rest of the union thugs. Simple
you know what greg5? it is a common mistake made by conservatives WHO DO NOT KNOW THE FACTS to just call democrats communists because that is all you know how to do, is call names. but it is the republican party, the conservatives who are more closely linked to communism than liberals are.
socialism is liberal.
communism is conservative.
communists are "socialist" in the same way that republicans are "compassionate conservatives". that is they both give lip service to ideals they have no intention of practicing.
why don't you try to educate yourself instead of just parroting what you have heard other republicans and baggers say over and over? you might want to start with the hero of the republican party, ronald reagan, and how his betrayal of ideals affected the republicans when he took power as gov. of california and then president. he raised taxes numerous times,he was fiscally careless, tripling the deficit as president, and grew the size of gov't.
republicans like sean hannity, carl rove, george bush, and others talk about reagan and tax cuts all day long. they are lying to themselves and everyone else about the ideals he stood for, but DID NOT LIVE BY.
the republican party: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO.
Suzette- I would suggest that maybe you should actually look into socialism and communisim in a learning environment. You may be surprised what you would discover. The two systems are really one stage after another- with state owned means of production and central planning of produce.
But- please don't let facts get into the way of a convincing argument.
Also- I have yet to see where any Democrat has advocated the expiration of all of the Bush tax cuts. In fact- didn't they vote in 2010 to make most of them permanent?
rusty,
the democrats and the president want tax cuts for the very rich to expire. not for the middle class, but the republicans filibustered that bill in dec. of 2010 that would make tax cuts for the middle class permanent, just like they filibustered everything, even the budget that they say the democrats were never able to get done.
communism was ORIGINALLY envisioned by marx and engels as the last stages of their socialist revolution. the meaning of the word "communism" shifted after 1917 when lenin and his bolshevik party seized power in russia. the bolsheviks changed their name to the communist party and installed a repressive single party regime dedicated to implementing socialist policies. THOSE POLICIES WERE NEVER IMPLEMENTED.
most countries that have gone communist have been underdeveloped countries. the prime example here is the soviet union. the october revolution in 1917 led by lenin was better than the tsars. the soviet union abandoned socialism in in 1921 when lenin put the new economic policy in place allowing for taxation, local trade, state capitalism and extreme profiteering. later that year he excluded about 260,000 people from voting by purging them from the party (reminiscent of the election of 2000, and also what scott walker and other republican gov. are doing in states, making it more difficult for democratic voters to vote, and easier for republicans to vote) so that fewer and fewer people were involved in making decisions.
the communism that we are familiar with today is not what it was meant to be, because the communist regimes have been taken over by power hungry totalitarian gov't's that exploit the working class and the poor.
i have studied socialism and communism. i would suggest you learn something about the truth of socialism, the economic system, and communism the political system, and not confuse the two.
like sarah palin, you do not have your facts in order.
you betcha.
Now you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. The Dems tried to make Bush tax cuts permanent? The Rs rejected? See- libs like you always try to frame issues. Bush tax cuts were top to bottom. Everyone. The Ds tried to keep some, and reject some. If you are serious about revenue increases, then you need to get back to the Clinton plan I would presume you embrace. The one that taxed everyone at a higher rate.
Oh- the Obama budget you claim the Rs stopped- look it up. The vote in the Senate was 97-0. It appears more than a few Ds voted against it, while all of Obama's backers supported it.
And nice try at re-writingf history as well as current events. Show me any of the Rs who advocate public control of resources. We know Obama's druthers are public control of major portions or the economy (Health Care, banking, student loans, home mortgages, etc) and he also would dearly love to drive regulations of manufacturing and finance through the roof. (Can you understand the relationship to jobs?)
How can you avoid gridlock when the republican choices have signed a pledge with a special interest group? As long as they are allowed to continue to serve in the house and senate, we are not going anywhere except down, down, down the tube!
I am so disgusted that the six republicans named today have signed the Norquist pledge. I pay those government salaries to these people & they actually sell their votes before hearing the proposals or debating them. This is the reason our debt rating went down & they are actually happy about destroying the country.
Is not these peoples. is Obama/Obamacare destroying the country. Stop walking next to your shoes, like all the liberals like your self. You can't live on the back of other peoples hard work earned money
There certainly will be gridlock and not to our favor. The Reps are smart enough to pick people that will not raise taxes; yet so far, the Dems have picked senators who are willing to "compromise." We did not vote for Democrats to "compromise" themselves into Republicans. We voted them because we agreed with their morals, their convictions! We understand that some compromise is necessary, but is the Democratic caucas taking the lead from Obama, who has already "compromised" himself into a Republican. The Dems have seen to forget that they work for us, not Obama!! Why weren't stronger Progressives appointed or our "true" independent friend Sanders? Just let all the Bush tax cuts expire. There is absolutely no reason why Obama should draw the line in sand with no taxes for those earning under $250,000. Definitely not worth compromising Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Pell Grants, Education, etc. etc. We are not the people of "no taxes." Change the tax codes. Make the standard deduction $250,000. Do not itemize or give credits for anything except for Small Businesses who should itemize only actual expenses, no credits! Stop hoodwinking us!!!
WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? Democratic Governors, Senators, Congressional members, and the list goes on with strong dems now gone but not forgotten. But the work did not end with them. We need to find our voice and then do something that the GOP has succeeded in, UNIFY IT! The agenda of the Democrats should be JOBS AND OUR FUTURE! Going backwards is not an option!
Hey how come Lawrence can't even say obama's name anymore. Is he proud to be on Mitt's new ad???
Congress is supposed to be a deliberative body - but Republicans are signing pledges to not deliberate? By signing those pledges they violate their oaths.
This is one of the few times Lawrence is all wet. It does not matter where the committee members live. They are negotiators acting on behalf of their entire party. What counts is:
1. skill as a negotiator
2. understanding of big finance.
3. lack of ego. The must go for the best deal, not for the biggest ego boost crushing or infuriating opponents.
The idea that this bipartisan committee will agree on anything is a joke. When I heard Obama talked about it, I told my husband, "Yeah, right." I will vote for Obama, but he's kind of a joke when he gives in continually to Republicans. They know he'll back down every time, so why would they compremise when they don't have to?
My dear disinchanted lady VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN and stop calling the messiah a joke
So well put. I can't believe that it is legal for any elected official to sign a pledge to a private organization. I asked many people if they ever heard of Grover Norquist and most have not. And they are not aware that the Republicans have signed a pledge. Everyone I told about the "Pledge" was outraged. That is why this must become a major campaign issue.
Tell everyone you know that most all the Republicans in Congress have signed a pledge to a private organization headed by a man who is no more than a private citizen whose organization is backed by powerful and ultra wealthy individuals who have a vested interest that taxes should never be raised….ever- no matter what befalls the US or the affect that it may have on Social Security or Medicare.
Anyone who votes for someone that has signed a pledge for anything except to uphold the constitution is a complete fool.
Has Max Baucus signed the pledge, too? I lost hope when I saw his name. He will give away even more than Obama. Folks, get ready for some bad news!
As the Super Congress gathers, the Democrats are facing a close bwell-known enemy...A UNION.
Let's face facts, the Reublicans have unionized when the pldged to be a GROVER. Yes, the Repubs in Congress have been unionized and those who don't agree are scabs. But where do the Grovers Unionists have their loyalty, to their oath to American or their pldege to the Grovernista Uinon?
From the point words, any Repbulican appearing on TV should not be given the normal (R) but the new symbol of their allegiance the new (G).
I agree! Is his mentioning Stephen Colbert's latest folly a joke or for is he angry for real? Could he REALLY that upset and exactly why? Isn't it just comedy?