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"Republicans reveal picks for debt 'super committee'"

CBS:

Republican leaders in the House and the Senate today announced their appointees to the 12-member, bipartisan congressional “super committee” charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings by Thanksgiving.

House Speaker John Boehner said he’s tapped House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to serve as co-chair of the committee. He’s also appointing House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., to the committee, as well as House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s appointing Sens. Jon Kyl, Ariz., Pat Toomey, Pa., and Rob Portman, Ohio.

In a statement, McConnell said the three senators he’s chosen understand the “gravity” of the current economic climate and will bring to the table “the kind of responsibility, creativity, and thoughtfulness that the moment requires.”

“The American people know that we cannot dig ourselves out of this situation by nibbling around the edges, and I am confident that each of these nominees can be counted on to propose solutions that put the interests of all Americans ahead of any one political party,” McConnell said.

Boehner said in a statement he appointed “proven leaders who have earned the trust and confidence of their colleagues and constituents.”

So. Who’s ready for some more quantitative easing, EPA regulations, and “revenue enhancements”?

Wheeeeeeeeee!

****
update: via TerryH, the WSJ is already setting the tone, pointing out for us that John Kerry (D-Winter Soldiers / TEA Party Downgrade), Patty Murray (D-Ooh, Blackberries!), and Max Baucus (D-Drunk) are not ideologues.

Meaning that when and if they receive any resistance — from Toomey, is my guess — the “right wing” and its “extremism” will take the blame for a lack of “compromise.”

Nice deal, GOP!

Somebody send Bill Kristol a fucking cheese and meat platter.

****
update 2: ALG statment:

Senator Murray serves as the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, whose job is to raise money to maintain the Senate Majority. Murray’s inclusion indicates that Harry Reid is using the super-committee as a means to shake down political interests in exchange for protection in the budget process.

The cynical misuse of this budget experiment virtually ensures that it will fail and fail spectacularly to reduce the debt and regain our Triple-A rating. It will be up to the media to closely scrutinize the actions both past and future of each of these committee members to ensure that typical Washington, D.C. pay-to-play politics will not rule the day.

This is one reason why Americans for Limited Government opposed the super-committee concept from its inception. America cannot afford yet another backroom budget deal insulated from public scrutiny and full and honest debate. That is how we got downgraded in the first place.

Best deal we could get!

23 Replies to “"Republicans reveal picks for debt 'super committee'"”

sdferr says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:23 am

I thought Michigan and Ohio were supposed to have a long running feud? So how will Boehner be able to go home without being pelted with rotten vegetables?
Joe says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:30 am

Does this Super Committee ride in one of those short school buses? You know the type, the ones with extra padding inside.
serr8d says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:31 am

None of these turds represent me; AFAIK none being of the TEA Party mindset.

Well, not turds. I’m not going all ‘feets here. But I’m disappointed, and determined to let Boehner and McConnell know it.
sdferr says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:34 am

Would Toomey defect? Sooner Kyl, I think. Portman maybe, but not as likely as Kyl, just on grounds of Portman’s perception of the danger to the Republic I think. Kyl has never shown evidence of such concerns so far as I know. But Camp and Upton? Oh fuck, please.
sdferr says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:37 am

On Murray.
LTC John says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:53 am

Upton?! Why didn’t they just find a Democrat for the spot….oy.
happyfeet says:

August 10, 2011 at 10:56 am

isn’t upton the lightbulb fairy?
happyfeet says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:00 am

oh sorry you have a link

I’m stuck on a conf call
newrouter says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:06 am

mr. ryan’s reason for not wanting to be a superduper committee thingy

The Speaker has chosen three excellent Republican members to serve on this Joint Committee in Chairmen Hensarling, Upton and Camp. I asked the Speaker not to consider me for the Joint Committee, because only the Budget Committee can write legislation to reform the budget process. As Budget Committee chairman, my plan has long been to work on this critical issue throughout the fall. This past year has shown that the federal budget process is more broken than ever and needs to be reformed. If we are truly going to put the country’s fiscal house in order, it will not be enough to temporarily reduce what Washington spends. We must permanently reform the process by which working Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars are spent.

The House Budget Committee plans to complement the Joint Committee’s work this fall by holding hearings and marking up legislation to put in place common-sense controls that stop the spending spree in Washington. As things stand, the budget process is stacked in favor of those who want to chase ever-higher spending with ever-higher taxes. In addition to cutting spending by $6.2 trillion in The Path to Prosperity, the Budget Committee will take action to reform our broken budget process in order to bring spending, deficits and debt under control.

Link
LTC John says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:16 am

Good for Ryan, not putting himself on board the SS Doomed.
sdferr says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:20 am

I listened to Camp’s remarks in the debate hour leading up to the vote on the Budget Control Act. They were remarkably weak. Worst, Camp rhetorically conceded the Democrat meme of the day: that the resistance to the BCA would lead to default. I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I could throw him.
bh says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:25 am

Contra one of those links above, QE3 is no sure thing.

Unless QE3 no longer means asset purchases but variations on zero interest policy. In which case quantitative easing will simply mean “anything the Fed does”.
charlesaustin says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:28 am

The thing is, in all seriousness it probably is the best deal we could get.

At what point of “heads I win, tails you lose” do you decide to stop playing?
Pablo says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:33 am

None of these turds represent me; AFAIK none being of the TEA Party mindset.

Has Toomey done anything stupid yet? He’s been staunch, AFAIK. He’s way outnumbered here, though.
sdferr says:

August 10, 2011 at 11:36 am

I think Hensarling will stick, but not necessarily so much on account of Tea Party unity as on account of simple Texas “oh no you don’t”.
newrouter says:

August 10, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Instead of gaining ground with spending cuts, we will actually lose ground with this ridiculous super committee. We can appoint Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Jim Jordan, Michele Bachmann, and Jeff Flake to the committee – and it still won’t matter. The new committee will be as ephemeral as Simpson-Bowles. After the excitement surrounding the selections dies down, the committee will be deadlocked, triggering the sequestration process. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Nope.

This sequestration cuts 50% from defense spending, while exempting all welfare programs from the process. We must remember that much of the discretionary cuts triggered from the first tranche will also include defense cuts. Some of the remaining cuts will come from the government’s obligations to healthcare providers. That’s some concession from Obama. More precisely, it appears that he will be able to have his cake and eat it too.

The real problem has very little to do with the orientation of the committee. The problem all along was this ridiculous debt deal that failed to preclude a credit downgrade, limit government, or curb entitlements. Worse, it will cut from the few areas that the federal government is actually responsible to support.

But fear not; at the very least, we won’t incur tax hikes – or, will we?

Link
mojo says:

August 10, 2011 at 1:04 pm

Do the “super-friends” get to wear capes, I wonder?…
mojo says:

August 10, 2011 at 1:07 pm

PS: In my NSH opinion, a dozen Beltway Bozos appointed from on high do NOT constitute “representation” for me with regards to taxes.

Which, if I recall correctly, is sorta how the whole thing got started, wasn’t it?
B. Moe says:

August 10, 2011 at 3:58 pm

How about we just do away with the rest of the house and senate if we don’t need them.

That would save quite a bit of money.
newrouter says:

August 10, 2011 at 4:59 pm

fred upton super rino

Was one of only three Republicans to vote against extending the Bush tax cuts (on capitol gains and dividends) in 2005.
Was one of only nine Republicans to vote against an amendment to the 2009 stimulus bill offered by Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.) that would have replaced the Democratic bill with a Republican version composed entirely of tax cuts.
Was one of only eleven Republicans who voted for a 2004 Democratic budget resolution to make tax cuts subject to a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Voted for then-speaker Pelosi’s Omnibus Spending Bill for 2009, one of only 16 Republicans to do so.
Was one of a handful of Republicans who in early 2009 voted against a GOP effort to claw back stimulus funding.
Has voted multiple times to extend unemployment benefits, even when the extension has not been offset with further spending cuts.
Voted along with just 24 other Republicans to support the Democrats’ “pay-go” legislation in 2009.
Supported a huge spending increase in 2009 for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), financed through higher taxes. He also supported attempts to override vetoes from President George W. Bush on similar SCHIP-funding bill.
Was one of only twelve Republicans who voted for an amendment by Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) that would have cut the defense budget by nearly $2.5 billion in 1995.

Link
newrouter says:

August 10, 2011 at 5:36 pm

After working with some grass-roots groups, Mr. Mack designed the “One Percent Spending Reduction Act,” or, the “Mack Penny Plan,” which, he says, will cut and cap federal spending, and balance the federal budget in eight years.

In short, the “Mack Penny Plan” would:

• Cut federal spending by 1% each year for 6 years
• Cap spending at 18% of GDP in the 7th year
• Balance the federal budget in the 8th year
• Save taxpayers $7.5 trillion over 10 years

“What’s different about this plan,” the Florida congressman says, “is that it’s pretty simple. We freeze spending at the 2011 level- about $3.6 trillion- and cut 1% of spending for six years- that’s one penny out of every dollar. Everyone has had to cut at least one penny out of every dollar, whether in family or business budgets, so that’s not too hard for the federal government to do.”

Link
Seth says:

August 10, 2011 at 6:02 pm

That thar Mack Penny Plan sounds pretty good to me.
happyfeet says:

August 10, 2011 at 6:53 pm

so supercommittee is full of shit – mostly the supercommittee will be useful for hanging a symbolic flaming tire around the neck of his supreme Boehnerfagness and his little dog McConnellwhore – men so fucking useless they became the Team R leaders in Congress not once but twice