Supercommittee Dems rebuff GOP contingency plan

Supercommittee Republicans have been working behind closed doors with House Speaker John Boehner on a contingency plan to find at least half of the $1.2 trillion in deficit savings the panel is supposed approve by Wednesday. A GOP leadership aide said, however, that the plan was rejected by supercommittee Democrats.

The GOP back-up plan would cut $643 billion from the deficit. The package would include mandatory spending cuts and fees that had bipartisan backing in past negotiations, according to a GOP leadership aide. As a sweetener for Democrats, Republicans would close the corporate jet tax loophole that their members have been pushing to eliminate for months.

"This package represented a good-faith offer that excluded all of the reforms and entitlement programs that Democrats have expressed concern over," said the GOP leadership aide. "The proposal did not touch Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security."

The aide added that there was nothing "controversial" in the proposal.

One senior Democratic aide said the GOP proposal is "laughable and disappointing."

The aide told CBS News Senate Producer John Nolen that "any deal needs to be balanced, and the ratio of cuts to revenue in their offer is 200 to 1. And its disappointing because we thought we were exchanging ideas back and forth in good faith, and all of a sudden they decided to leak it to the press without so much as a heads up."

Lawmakers and aides on both sides say that they are still working to reach an agreement that hits the $1.2 trillion deficit reduction goal, but the difficulty of getting agreement on even half that amount shows they are far from resolution.

Supercommittee co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said this afternoon that the major roadblock to an agreement is still tax increases. "Where the divide is right now is on taxes and whether the wealthiest Americans should share in the sacrifice that all of us have to make," she said. "That's the decision. It's what we are waiting for."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said of the proposal that "there's nothing for jobs and no person could look at that and say it met the test of fairness and balance."

Van Hollen told Bloomberg earlier that "by tonight, we really have to have most of whatever could be agreed to the Congressional Budget Office. That can be amended over the weekend, but this is the 11th hour."

If the two sides are able to reach a deal, they are supposed to make it public along with a Congressional Budget Office estimate 48 hours before a vote. That means Monday is a soft deadline before Wednesday's final opportunity for the supercommittee to approve a package.

[chuck1al]

Tea Party republicans would never propose a fair deal, their agenda is to dismantle the government and its institutions. They have declared war on America.

[Harden_Tar]

If you are one of those that belive your guys are right and the other guys are wrong, you are mistaken. This problem is due to the very people in this so called "supercommittee" on both sides. Give me a break. Can anyone tell me the total number of years these ding dongs have been serving in the Congress? Probably over 100. THAT is the problem. Want a real chance at solving this? Create "supercommittee" whose members are all first or second termers and are not in the pockets of the special interests. The stench of political corruption on both sides of this group makes me want to puke.

[revolverdude]

Won't be laughable in a few days. The Dems want to continue the wild spending spree and they won't cut anything. Their only solution is to raise taxes. We have some stupid people in Congress! Take the Liberals checkbook away before China does it for us.

[kbbpll]

What "wild spending spree"? Anything you can point to as "liberal" is dwarfed by the trillions spent on the Iraq war.

[arthanyel]

Actually almost all the deficit spending has been done by Republicans, who are responsible for 13T if the 15T debt.

[kbbpll]

The top tax rate in this country was 50% or more from 1932 to 1988. We did just fine. That so many "common" people join the GOP in resisting a reversion back to similar taxation for the ultra-wealthy is perplexing to me.

[arthanyel]

The top tax rate was actually almost 90% in that period, and everyone did it fine.

[kbbpll]

vsmit, I'm curious what loopholes were available that, when eliminated, balanced a 17-61% reduction in tax rates.

[arthanyel]

Conservatives hate facts because reality (apparently) has a liberal bias. The "no new taxes under any circumstances" is a mathematically IMPOSSIBLE position unless you destroy all the social safety net programs including Social Security and Medicare. The Republicans know this. But they fight against doing what must be done for one reason only - the destruction of the social safety net IS THEIR GOAL.

Don't let them get away with it.

[arthanyel]

Logicnothuff - conservative propaganda, 100% fact free. If the Bush tax cuts were allowed to expire and we undid the unfunded mandates from Republicans, the budget would be almost balanced already - and if unemployment was 5% we would be running a surplus. You obviously don't understand the words you re using, Democrats are not communists or socialists. They don't want the government to own everything. They are also tools of the wealthy, who want to STAY wealthy.

A sensible, balanced approach including both tax increases and significant spending cuts is he right answer.

[arthanyel]

I am not a Democrat, or pro-democrat. I am anti-Republican as the party exists today (I was a Republican from 1978 till 1998). Both parties are tools of the wealthy, both party leadership groups are corrupt. The Republicans are just more blatant about it.

[bajajohn1]

Before the SC began to meet, the word was 'everything is on the table'...so now we find out that nothing was on the table. How much more worthless can Congress become?

[ALLCONEWS]

CRUISER4NEWS WHO IS MANAGING THE COUNTRY - NOT OBAMA

Since the Super committee cannot agree on what cuts to make, instead of $1.4 trillion dollars cut over ten years there will be $1.4 trillion cut directly out of the 2013 year budget. This was agreed to by Congress and the President as a precedent to increasing the Debt Limit.

This will force the most belt tightening and will direct the law makers to stick firmly to a reduction of the $15 trillion deficit. This is a safety net that will force the federal government to shrink at a much more rapid pace.

If the top politicians cannot control their laws governing themselves then the voters must take an active part in oversight. Oversight is the most important part of a well managed country. Look at how the Germans manage their affairs better than the USA.

Obama is the worst manager who uses his whims to let the economy, the federal government and military to spend and expand out of control.

There is so much excess fat in the Military and the Federal Employees defined benefit retirement plans and 0 co pay lifetime health benefits with no participation or contribution required. These plans should be phased out entirely.

Replace the defined benefit plans with defined contribution plans that require a 2 or 3% matching benefit with retirement after 30 years not 20 years, based on the highest 5 year average of wages paid at 75% not 100% salary for life after retirement. No exchange of sick pay or other benefit adjustments.

Replace the medical with a Preferred Provider Plan to limit what the doctors and hospitals can charge. Standardize a $30 co-pay plan and a $1,000 hospital deductible and generic drugs at 80% or named brand drugs at 75% after a $20 co-pay mail order for 90 day supply. Doctor's visits should require a contribution monthly like for plan B of Medicare to keep the costs in line with controllable doctor's fees.

Change the postal service to 5 day delivery. Eliminate 25% of the post office nationwide. Allow 3 to 5 days for delivery for most mail. Eliminate mass mailing discounts for junk mail. Increase international mail rates so we are not subsidizing other countries postal services. Hire part time employees that will not be covered by medical or retirement plans for route delivery. Eliminate all overtime and extra wage packages.

Eliminate all contractors doing war related duties before during and after to keep control of the job duties and commitment to the proper security duties or rebuilding requirements can be handled by the military units that are specially designed to those tasks. Billions are lost yearly using contractors in war or support of defense bases worldwide.

Pull out of Okinawa Japan as requested, but do not move into Guam. Consolidate those forces where there are basis already. Do not expand to any more military basis in any other foreign countries. Utilize American basis more efficiently by combining the army and marines. Consolidate all planes helicopters and drones under the Air force only. This will eliminate the duplication of planes transport vehicles and consolidate thousands of bases into multipurpose facilities which will standardize the interaction of each military service to be team players.

Eliminate all business subsidies for all types of business. Eliminate all forms of protectionism or duties upon imports so this will require American Goods that are consumed or exported are competitive and well managed.

CRUISER4NEWS FACEBOOK & TWITTER Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:57 PM PST

[arthanyel]

Your initial premise is in error. A failure to make a deal does not cause 1.2 trillion to be chopped from a single year's budget in 2013 - 1.2T is about 1/3 of the entire budget. It mandates cuts of 60B a year for 10 years in defense, and 60B from social programs over the same period. Not a disaster - not even as much as we NEED to cut. We need revenue increases as well, but the number we need is something like (over 10 years) 1.2 to 2.5T in tax increases, and 2.2 to 3.5T in spending cuts. Even tha won't balance the budget until 10 years or more from now, assuming good economic growth.

The fact we cat get agreement on what amounts too down payment on the needed plan is scary. And Repulicans, by refusing to accept an taxes increases, are just declaring they refuse to solve the problem - because we CANNOT solve it without revenue increases.

[SoCal_Gridlock]

The national debt is now at $15 trillion dollars. With $1.2 trillion in cuts as the "goal" of this far-from-super committee, all they have to do is to find a way to save a mere 8 cents on the dollar. The answer is simple: each and every department of government reduces their budget by 8% (which, by the way, is the same as the approval rating of congress). It just can't be that tough. Each department should be able to save 8% by simply eliminating waste. Want to save another 8%? Eliminating fraud would take care of that.

[arthanyel]

Its actually even less then that. The total government spend per year is about 3.5T. To save 1.2T over 10 years, that's 120B per year, or about 3.5%. Now that is added to the 1T already agreed to in cuts from the first half of the deal, so the total change needs to be 2.2T - or 6.3%

The problem is that a large percentage of the budget is untouchable. You can't cut Social Security or Medicare (or any non-discretionary spending) without changing the laws that run the programs. And total discretionary spending, not including defense, is only 560B.

So, if you try to get the number all from cuts and exclude defense and non-discretionary spending, you would have to cut by almost 40% which is destructive. And you are still trillions short of a real Plano fix the deficit spending, as you need about FIVE TIMES MORE to balance the budget.

So there have to be large revenue increases and large cuts, and you need to change the non-discretionary programs. But since Republicans refuse to raise taxes at all. Even refusing to let TEMPORARY tax cuts expire, there can be no solution.

Conservatives don't want to fix the budget. They want to kill Social Securit and Medicare, and if they allow tax increases they will fail. THAT is why they refuse to do whats necessary - because if they publicly stated their goal was to kill Social Security and Medicare, they would be throw so far out of power no one would recognize them in a few years.

[mollydtt]

Hurry---enact 2-term limits.
Those bozos can't commit on anything, because if they vote one way, they'll offend their deep pocket donors. But if they vote another way, they can't get their constituents' votes and get re-elected.
What to do, what to do. Namely nothing.
Our political system is broken.
We all lose.

[gman16506]

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said of the proposal that "there's nothing for jobs and no person could look at that and say it met the test of fairness and balance."
...................

Thought the mandate of this Commitee was to reduce the deficit, not to address the unemployment problem. No wonder they are not getting anywhere.

[arthanyel]

Since a significant amount of the current deficit is due to high unemployment, which both lowers revenues and increases expenses, doing something on the jobs front would be helpful. And forcing the rate to go higher by laying more people off won't help either.

[gman16506]

The point is that it was not the objective of this Committee to debate that point and the more issues (regardless of their importance), the less chance of obtaining the stated goal