Lawmakers plodded through another day of wrenching negotiations on the deficit-cutting supercommittee, ratcheting up the partisan rhetoric and increasing their demands ahead of its mandated deadline, just a week away.
As Democrats continued to demand more revenue increases and Republicans called for deeper cuts to health care programs, there was increased chatter about the next steps to break the stalemate and avoid the full mandated budget cuts if no agreement is reached before Thanksgiving. One plan would have the supercommittee vote on competing Republican and Democratic proposals, aimed at forcing the other side?s hand.
Continue ReadingRepublicans, meanwhile, have begun pondering potential fallback plans, including moving legislation that would most likely cut less than $1.2 trillion but softens the blow of the mandated cuts. There?s even talk of coupling a deficit-reduction package with must-pass measures like unemployment insurance to sweeten the deal for Democrats and President Barack Obama.
Democratic negotiators said Wednesday they were open to some parts of the leading GOP proposal floated by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. And aides said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) quietly proposed a counteroffer last Friday to meet the GOP dollar-for-dollar on $876 billion in spending reductions and $401 billion in revenue-raisers, down from Democrats? initial call of $1 trillion in higher revenues.
Still, they were demanding several significant changes, including for the GOP to drop proposed benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare and calls to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts. Republicans immediately dismissed the plan as a ?step backward,? attacking Democrats for seeking $300 billion in spending on jobs measures and for opposing their plans to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.
In sum, all the maneuvering seemed to paint a picture of confusion, panic and blame-passing as Congress, with approval ratings in the gutter, attempts to patch up yet another fiscal mess.
On a day when the national debt surpassed $15 trillion, the six Democrats and six Republicans on the supercommittee met separately in tense closed-door meetings and strategized with congressional leaders. In phone calls and personal meetings, Republicans discussed proposals old and new a half-dozen times ? and each side struggled to coalesce around plans that could pass bipartisan muster, or be used to maximize political cover.
?We?re trying to explore every avenue that?s got some potential,? said Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican whip and a chief negotiator.
It became a certainty on Wednesday that any final deal would need to be struck at the end of the weekend, as the Congressional Budget Office needs to analyze any last-ditch proposal on Monday.
?I was here all last weekend ? I plan to be here all this weekend,? said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), another member of the panel.
The same sticking points that have prevented Congress from cutting a major budget deal are once again threatening the success of a committee granted sweeping authority to get a handle on the country?s burgeoning deficit. Democrats are not satisfied with the $250 billion in higher tax revenues proposed by the GOP, calling it paltry because it is coupled with the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts.
?I am still hopeful that the Republicans will see their way to bringing to us a real revenue package, and that?s what all of us are looking for in terms of fair and balanced,? said Murray, co-chair of the panel. ?We can?t let wealthy Americans continue to be given a shot out of this and everybody else has to bear the burden.?
Republicans counter that Democrats must cut deeper into health care programs than they have already proposed to Medicare and Medicaid. And until they do that, GOP negotiators said they would not put forward a new plan. Asked if Republicans could offer more than $250 billion in new revenue, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the other co-chair, said he was not ?rejecting any offer out of hand? ? signaling, for the first time, openness on increasing revenues.
jonathan papelbon jonathan papelbon trisomy 13 veterans barbados resorts tiger woods helen mirren
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.