Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Deficit Battle Shifts to the Supercommittee
The Washington Post reports that under the deal that Washington lawmakers have finally taken up, the majority and minority leaders from the House and Senate will each appoint three members to sit on the 12-member Joint Congressional Committee, which must come up with $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in savings by Thanksgiving. “Who they appoint will determine how serious they are about succeeding,” says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “If it’s people who have no intention on working toward a deal — the equivalent of a poison pill — it ends everything right there.”
Given the stakes, both parties will want to appoint members who have close ties to the leadership and are willing to carry out their directives. And the stakes this time around are even higher. Committee chairs and ranking members who work closely with taxes, health care and entitlements will all be strong contenders. But congressional leaders will also probably steer clear of members up for a tough reelection battle in 2012, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Many Hill watchers expect the GOP to appoint Rep. Paul Ryan, whose original 2012 budget plan set the hard-line tone for the incoming House Republicans. Other likely contenders include…
Read more at : http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/who-will-sit-on-the-supercommittee/2011/08/01/gIQAxqDXpI_blog.html
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