Super Committee Democrats Reject GOP Tax Proposal

[WillowTree]

With just two weeks left to craft a deficit reduction package, members of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction remain far from a deal, this according to both Democratic and Republican aides close to the negotiations.

Two days after Republicans on the so-called super committee, led by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, offered a $1.5 trillion package that included, for the first time, new tax revenue to the tune of about $300 billion, Democrats are rejecting the offer.

"We have a big gap with respect to where we are on revenue," panel Democrat John Kerry told a handful of reporters Wednesday morning. "The Toomey approach will not work. We've told them that very directly. We have to find a different way to come at it."

The senior Massachusetts senator met behind closed doors in his third floor Capitol office Tuesday night with a key bipartisan core group from the committee, including Toomey, Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Dave Camp, R-Mich., Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

"This is not complicated. They've got to put real revenue on the table that helps us get the job done," Kerry said, adding that he is "still hopeful" a deal can be reached by November 23.

In reality, that deadline will hit even sooner, though. The budget crunchers at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) must get a complete product soon, in order to have time to analyze and score a bill for floor consideration. Super committee aides say CBO must then publish that score by November 21.



Read more: Super Committee Democrats Reject GOP Tax Proposal - Fox News

 

[Inthemiddle]

Two things strike me here.

1) The Democrats don't have their own counter proposal to offer.

2) The Republican proposal only offers such paltry results as they have complained about the Dems offering as insufficient in the recent past.

It seems that things are just as partisan as ever, and both sides are still doing nothing more than playing politics.

 

[Navy1960]

First this Super Committee strikes me as well beyond the bounds what congress is empowered to do. It also strikes me as both the Senate and the House being derelict in it's duties and assigning duties otherwise reserved for both houses to a small group of individuals. I'm also of the opinion that this is an excercise that will eventually lead right back where it started and that is cuts that will kick in automatically. or some with both sides posturing for some last minute deal.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

the democrats don't want cuts.....all they want is revenue....

 

[DiamondDave]

the democrats don't want cuts.....all they want is revenue....

This is EXACTLY it... they want more in... and to spend more... not cutting a damn thing, because they know without payouts thru government spending, they cannot keep their voting base thru class warfare

 

[paulitician]

Typical Government mess. Call something "Super" that will be anything but super. How much in cuts are we really talking about here? $1-2 Trillion? Just a drop in a bucket. Our Debt will grow to a staggering $20 Trillion by 2015. What's $1-2 Trillion in cuts? And they can't even agree on such small cuts. Nothing "Super" about this committee. Nothing at all.

 

[Navy1960]

It seems to me these cuts they are talking about are all over a 10 year period of time, so you mean to tell me they cannot find, 100 billion a year to cut from the budget a year? Heck I can find half that in DOD waste or for that matter here's a novel idea, how about a 25% congressional and executive paycut? Not that I am advocating for these things it's just a way of pointing out that it appears there is a whole lot more politics going on with this Super Committee than really wanting to do the right thing.

 

[paulitician]

If they can't even agree on such small cuts,we are doomed. Time to stop calling this committee "Super."

 

[007]

the democrats don't want cuts.....all they want is revenue....

Don't buy into this word game BS, democrats want to RAISE TAXES. "More revenue" is the watered down, nicey-nicey, hope the ignorant don't catch on, politically correct name for RAISING TAXES! That's all the liberals know how to do, TAX & SPEND, even though it is PAINFULLY clear that it is OVER TAXING AND SPENDING that has gotten us INTO THIS MESS! Any politician at this point proposing NEW SPENDING should be tried for TREASON.

Don't fall for this "revenue" crap. Democrats want to RAISE TAXES, call it that. Don't let them BS anyone.

 

[Listening]

I am so looking forward to the next debt ceiling drama !

This time, we need to let it tank.

 

[paulitician]

I am so looking forward to the next debt ceiling drama !

This time, we need to let it tank.

Wont be till after the next Election. I think both parties want it that way. Arguing over such tiny cuts just leaves one frustrated and depressed. Not much hope for our future generations. It is very sad.

 

[Listening]

I am so looking forward to the next debt ceiling drama !

This time, we need to let it tank.

Wont be till after the next Election. I think both parties want it that way. Arguing over such tiny cuts just leaves one frustrated and depressed. Not much hope for our future generations. It is very sad.

I am betting the Tea Party puts a few more candidates in place by then.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Honestly, we should be ready to remove our troops from the middle east and close down all the bases...We should seriously, cut the DOD by 10 percent along with each other governmental deportment(energy, education, epa, DOD, ect).

We could cut greatly. Heck, we could pull our troops back home and cut 200-300 billion a year within the DOD and still have the most powerful military on earth.

 

[The Rabbi]

It wont work because Obama does not want it to work. If they fail to reach agreement Obama can run against the GOP in Congress claiming we would be in great shape if only we enacted all his policies. Never mind we enacted all his policies in the first 2 years and we're worse off now.

 

[WillowTree]

It wont work because Obama does not want it to work. If they fail to reach agreement Obama can run against the GOP in Congress claiming we would be in great shape if only we enacted all his policies. Never mind we enacted all his policies in the first 2 years and we're worse off now.

 

[Navy1960]

2000
Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen today released details of President Clinton's Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 defense budget. The budget requests $267.2 billion in budget authority and $260.8 billion in outlays for the Department of Defense (DoD).

Today
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee voted Tuesday to freeze basic Pentagon spending next year to the 2011 level of $513 billion, cutting about $26 billion from President Obama’s original request for fiscal 2012

So they are celebrating taking 26 billion from DOD, when the budget has exploded to almost double it's size in 10 years. Point is, this is not just a Democrat or Republican issue, it belongs to both of them. While not advocating going to 2000 levels for the DOD, it does appear that it would not hurt to reform DOD to save money and make sure we are getting the best for our dollars and not just creating a money pipeline for the Defense Industry.

 

[Neotrotsky]

It sad how the Democrats want to bring down the country
for their own political gains

 

[DaGoose]

the democrats don't want cuts.....all they want is revenue....

Don't buy into this word game BS, democrats want to RAISE TAXES. "More revenue" is the watered down, nicey-nicey, hope the ignorant don't catch on, politically correct name for RAISING TAXES! That's all the liberals know how to do, TAX & SPEND, even though it is PAINFULLY clear that it is OVER TAXING AND SPENDING that has gotten us INTO THIS MESS! Any politician at this point proposing NEW SPENDING should be tried for TREASON.

Don't fall for this "revenue" crap. Democrats want to RAISE TAXES, call it that. Don't let them BS anyone.

Uh-huh.

Get off the "GOP Talking Points" BS and open your eyes to the facts. It's amazing what you can learn when you think for yourself.....

The GOP will raise taxes — on the middle class and working poor - The Washington Post

Now Republicans Want To RAISE Taxes: May Block Payroll Tax Cut Extension That Obama Says Could Save 1 Million Jobs - Business Insider

GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block - Yahoo! News

 

[editec]

The philosophical divide between the GOP and the DEMS is too vast for them to gind common grounds upon which to compromise.

I fully7 expect this deadlock to end when with AUTOMATIC CUTS IN SPENDING as already devised by this

The two of the three major entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicaid, will remain untouched by the automatic cuts, which would kick in for the 2013 fiscal year budget if the super committee fails to create a deficit-reduction plan that passes through Congress.

The third big-dollar entitlement program, Medicare, would be cut a maximum of 2 percent, or about $11 billion in the fiscal year 2013 budget, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The vast majority of the back-up plan cuts would fall on discretionary spending, with half of the $109 billion yearly cuts coming from defense spending.

There are few concrete details on how the remaining $55 billion would be cut, but a report by the Federal Funds Information for States, which does budget analyses for the National Governor’s Association, shows that cuts to children’s programs would likely far outpace cuts to programs for the elderly.

source

FWIW this plan is exactly what this economy does NOT NEED.

This will be disasterous for this nation, its people, and even its MASTERS are going to take hits because of it.

Oh yeah, one more thing?

It won't solve the national debt problem, anyway.

As the economy will gets worse because of the effect of these cuts, so too will revenues to the government FALL, thus exacerbating the problem of national debt.

Seriously this is absolutely the worng thing to do in THIS economy.

In another happier economy, I would be 100% in favor of it.

 

[The Rabbi]

the democrats don't want cuts.....all they want is revenue....

Don't buy into this word game BS, democrats want to RAISE TAXES. "More revenue" is the watered down, nicey-nicey, hope the ignorant don't catch on, politically correct name for RAISING TAXES! That's all the liberals know how to do, TAX & SPEND, even though it is PAINFULLY clear that it is OVER TAXING AND SPENDING that has gotten us INTO THIS MESS! Any politician at this point proposing NEW SPENDING should be tried for TREASON.

Don't fall for this "revenue" crap. Democrats want to RAISE TAXES, call it that. Don't let them BS anyone.

Uh-huh.

Get off the "GOP Talking Points" BS and open your eyes to the facts. It's amazing what you can learn when you think for yourself.....

The GOP will raise taxes — on the middle class and working poor - The Washington Post

Now Republicans Want To RAISE Taxes: May Block Payroll Tax Cut Extension That Obama Says Could Save 1 Million Jobs - Business Insider

GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block - Yahoo! News

Yes, the GOP has been in favor of raising taxes for the last 4 years. Right?