To no one's surprise, the "Super Committee" could not agree on how to cut the deficit and so yesterday they ended their discussions and accomplished nothing.
A parting comment from Robbie Portman (R-Ohio) inadvertently summarized the futility of the senators' many meetings. Portman said that Committee Democrats and Republicans were "never able to bridge their fundamental differences on the role of government." OK, Robbie, but that was not the job at hand. You weren't there to debate the role of government or conduct a civics class. But you and the other R's refused to let go of Grover's apron strings, and behaved yet again as nothing more than obstructionist robots avoiding the real issues.
John Kerry (D-Mass) had a better assessment of the recalcitrant Republicans when he said, "This was supposed to be a deficit-reduction committee, not a tax-cutting committee."
Ten-percent across-the-board spending cuts are now supposed to kick in automatically in 2013, and in 2012, the end of the 2-point cut in Social Security tax, the end of long-term federal unemployment benefits, and the expiration of the Bush income tax cuts. On the whole, not the worst thing in the world, if one is really serious about bringing down the deficit.
The Republicans, of course, are not serious about it.
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