Shocker: Super Committee Not Working Out Well For Republicans

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Written By:
Rob Port

Nov 18, 2011
9:12am

Not surprisingly, the deal struck by Republicans with President Obama to reduce deficits through a “super committee” is turning out to be every bit the “Satan sandwich” Democrats said it would be. Except, it’s Republicans eating the sandwich because it looks like the outcome from all of this is going to be a big, fat nothing.

The bipartisan debt-limit deal, famously called a “Satan sandwich” by a prominent Democrat this summer, is looking more heavenly to the left.

Republicans crowed after striking the agreement with President Obama, while congressional Democrats cried foul. Despite the White House’s endorsement of the bill, 95 House Democrats voted against it.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the Budget Committee, subsequently said Republicans called Obama’s bluff. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he got 98 percent of what he wanted in the deal.

Three months later, members of both parties are looking at the deal much differently.

A GOP lawmaker who requested anonymity told The Hill that “it’s the 2 percent that’s killing [Boehner] … I’ve never understood why we thought 12 people could come up with a solution any better than we could.” …

Now, in sharp contrast to this summer, Democrats say they are in the driver’s seat. They note that Republicans are already vowing to torpedo the sequestration cuts to the Defense Department, something Democrats say they will not go along with.

If no deal is struck Senator John McCain, among others, are promising to torpedo the automatic cuts that were to take place. “My intent is that sequestration on national defense will not take place,” Senator McCain told the Washington Post a week ago. “We’ll do everything we can to prevent [the trigger from] being implemented.”

So, in the end, what we’re looking to get out of all this is a big, fat nothing. No deficit reduction. No entitlements reform. Nothing.