Speculation as to whether or not the Super Committee would be able to agree on $1.2 T in cuts is finally over. Early this evening, the Super Committee announced that due to irreconcilable differences, the committee was breaking up and leaving Congress to squabble over the fine print in the prenup. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction recently issued the following press release:
(Washington D.C.) – Today, the Co-Chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Representative Jeb Hensarling and Senator Patty Murray, released the following statement.
“After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.
“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve. We remain hopeful that Congress can build on this committee’s work and can find a way to tackle this issue in a way that works for the American people and our economy.
“We are deeply disappointed that we have been unable to come to a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement, but as we approach the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, we want to express our appreciation to every member of this committee, each of whom came into the process committed to achieving a solution that has eluded many groups before us. Most importantly, we want to thank the American people for sharing thoughts and ideas and for providing support and good will as we worked to accomplish this difficult task.
“We would also like to thank our committee staff, in particular Staff Director Mark Prater and Deputy Staff Director Sarah Kuehl, as well as each committee member’s staff for the tremendous work they contributed to this effort. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Douglas Elmendorf and Mr. Thomas Barthold and their teams at the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, respectively, for the technical support they provided to the committee and its members.”
Of course the failure of the Super Committee isn’t shocking in the least. I mean, who would have ever thought a government committee would fail? The entire debt deal that spawned the Super Committee simply kicked the debt can down the road and right in to election season. Now we get to talk about the debt, again. And deal with looming government shutdowns, again. While Washington refuses to deal with our out of control debt and Democrats refuse to stop spending money we don’t have, our federal debt has climbed over $15T and continues on its merry way to the tune of billions per day. 2012 can’t get here soon enough.