Big Fat Ugly Turkey and Summary Insights on the Dead Un-Super Committee

by William Warren

Last night, a Washington Examiner Editorial summed up the failure of the SuperCommittee and rightly declared: "Only an election can break Washington's gridlock." A quote: "The reality is that Washington spends too much, not that it taxes the people too little. Raising taxes on "the rich" won't fix this problem. Even if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, tax revenues as a percentage of gross domestic product would reach 21 percent by 2021, far above the historical 18 percent average. But spending is predicted to reach 26.4 percent of GDP that same year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Higher taxes mean only one thing -- more government spending. . . . Despite the Democrats' rhetoric about "everything being on the table," it's clear that, without Republicans caving on tax hikes, nothing remotely resembling spending cuts or entitlement reform was ever really on the Super-Committee table. It's time to leave this charade behind, fund the government through next November, and then let the American people decide what kind of country they want in the 2012 election."

A National Review Online article today details why the GOP and others "Shouldn’t fear the spending cuts under sequestration. . . . the automatic sequester cuts do very little to the overall trend in the growth of debt. Under current law, according to CBO projections, public debt will reach nearly $14.54 trillion by 2021. Under sequestration, it is projected to reach $14.38 trillion, a rather minute difference of $153 billion. . . . Now, it’s time for Congress to get serious about overspending and get to work (hope springs eternal). This failure gives lawmakers an opportunity to do the right thing and implement the fiscal reforms that could change the path we are on: That’s entitlement and tax reforms. . . . would appreciate if they could get moving on institutional reform too."

Yesterday, the joint statement by Co-chairs of the super committee, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling was quoted. In conclusion, for the detailed "insider" gory details on "Why the Super Committee Failed" read today's Wall Street Journal Opinion article by Rep. Jeb Hensarling. He concludes: "Ultimately, the committee did not succeed because we could not bridge the gap between two dramatically competing visions of the role government should play in a free society, the proper purpose and design of the social safety net, and the fundamentals of job creation and economic growth. . . . America's fate will not be sealed by the failure of a temporary congressional committee. Spending cuts will begin anyway in 2013, but in a manner many of us, including our secretary of defense, believe could fundamentally harm our national security. I am committed to ensuring that full deficit reduction is realized, but Congress must work to achieve these savings in a more sensible manner that does not make us less safe."

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