The Super Committee – Success or Uncertainty

There is only one week to go before the super committee, or the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, is scheduled to present a bipartisan debt-reduction plan that will bring down the U.S. Debt by $1.2 trillion. Do not hold your breathe. According to the Washington Monthly , indications are that the panel is failing miserably. Moving backwards, even. Of course, the markets will not react favorably to any level of uncertainty, and the last thing America needs is a return to the picture presented in July, when the focus shifted from Europe to here in the wake of the debt ceiling debacle. Writing for the Washington Post, Steve Benen said that, “The process may seem a little complicated, but the sticking points are straightforward and predictable. Democrats want a balanced package, including a combination of spending cuts and new tax revenue, along with measures to address the top Democratic priority: job creation. Republicans want massive spending cuts, no investments in the economy, and tax cuts — which move the super-committee further from its goal, not closer. ” Of course, Benan is on the nose. The Democrats like taxes and the Republicans really, really do not. What is certain is the fact that the two parties have to compromise and they have to find it fast. One week. One week to bury pride along with the hatchet and place the good of the party way below the good of the country. One week to do what the two parties rarely manage to do, ever, at all. Like I said, do not hold your breathe.