Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
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Debt Panelists Draw Skepticism on Partisanship, Tax Stances - Bloomberg
Once again, it looks like the Republicans will not compromise whatsoever.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced their appointments to a 12-member committee assigned with finding $1.5 trillion in budget savings, a lineup already drawing skepticism about the chances for a bipartisan debt compromise.
Republican Senators Jon Kyl, Pat Toomey and Rob Portman will work with Senate Democrats Patty Murray, John Kerry and Max Baucus, who were chosen yesterday by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Boehner today picked House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Republican Conference head Jeb Hensarling. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has yet to name her panelists.
The choices from both parties include some land mines, increasing the likelihood of deadlock, said Robert Bixby, head of the Concord Coalition, an Arlington, Virginia-based group that advocates for a balanced budget.
Murray, of Washington state, will cause certain alarm bells to go off because she heads the Democrats campaign to elect senators, Bixby said. Toomey, of Pennsylvania, and Hensarling, of Texas, are committed to not raising taxes. Uptons panel has taken the lead on investigating President Barack Obamas agenda, including the new health-care law. And all six Republican appointees have signed a pledge by Americans for Tax Reform against voting to raise taxes.
Once again, it looks like the Republicans will not compromise whatsoever.