The Legion of Super Committee Members isn’t going to agree on anything, and nobody gives a shit because the mandatory Armageddon of budget cuts that spawned this freak show won’t go into effect until 2013.
The do-nothing aspect of the Super Committee is a slight additional negative for the 7% approval rating Congress, but overall I think the lack of publicity is good news for the GOP. In a state notable for the stupidity of its Republican politicians, Texas’ Jeb Hensarling still stands out as a moronic gaffe monster. If the Super Committee deliberations had received any notice, we’d have seen a phenomenon similar to what John mentioned earlier this morning — the stupidity and repellent moral callousness of Hensarling acting in the co-chair role would have given voters a peek into how bad things really are in the Republican party, just as the debates have. Instead, the committee has been shown to be what it was all along, an escape hatch that Boehner used to run away from his Tea Party caucus’ desire to burn it all down. I wonder if the TP will realize that, as usual, they were played for chumps by their own party.
aimai
No. SATSQ.
aimai
Nutella
QFT
cleek
Obama caved!
deep cap
Yeah, yeah, 7% approval rating of congress, blah blah blah. You know what McConnel’s approval rating is among his constituents? 50%.
Can somebody go bitch-slap the people of Kentucky?
Amir Khalid
It’s been my suspicion so far that by not agreeing on anything, this so-called super committee (do they wear red capes in session or something?) is in fact WAI: the Democrats fend off the machete the Republicans (claim they) want to take to the federal budget, and the Republicans don’t have to make any hard choices. Or am I just being a cudlip?
MattF
I do think there’s a lot of hurt among Republicans these days. And blaming libruls for it must be getting old, you’d think. But I don’t know… maybe the operative problem here is ‘think’.
KCinDC
Cokie Roberts on NPR this morning informed us that Republicans would be okay because they’re bringing up a balanced budget amendment for a vote, which will “give them cover”. No mention, of course, that the amendment is unadulterated idiocy that fortunately will not pass but if it did would cause economic disaster.
agrippa
This ‘super committee’ is not designed to do anything.
Move on, folks. Nothing to see here.
Samara Morgan
@Amir Khalid:
you are.
the purpose of the Supercommittee is to turn defense cuts into revenues. And barring that, to give O cover to veto another extension of the Bush taxcuts.
Samara Morgan
@Amir Khalid: or if you both were just a tad brighter, you and mixie could see this for what it is– for once, our side has a fucking hostage.
4tehlulz
@KCinDC: I hate to give Cokie credit, but she said there are Republicans that want to keep the economy in the tank on purpose.
If Cokie mentions that in passing, the idea of GOP sabotage truly has gone mainstream.
Mino
Texas runs to extremes in her politicians, starting with Sam Houston. But lately the evil/stupid predominates. Boy, does it.
boss bitch
What? No letter from 60 Senators demanding that Obama step up (and do the work for them so he will get the blame?)
KCinDC
@4tehlulz, that was surprising, and maybe a little heartening. Of course as I recall she followed it immediately with some false equivalency about how Democrats wanting to preserve Medicare and Social Security were just as bad.
Amir Khalid
@Samara Morgan:
I knew you’d show up if I spoke the right words of invocation. ;-)
If you were yourself a tad brighter, you could see that everyone on “your side” has always been aware that there was a trap for the Republican side in the whole super committee set up. I mean, it was all written about from the beginning, wasn’t it? Its failure to agree on a plan was easily foreseen from the outset. Everyone knew it, it’s why the Republicans themselves bitched about the super committee at the time. What’s happening now is that the jaws of the trap are closing on them and they have no real plan of escape. Pretty much what was widely expected.
The GOP is lucky that this easily avoidable tactical fail of theirs isn’t getting wider media coverage. Mistermix is just pointing that out.
catclub
Amir @ 15
I would be happy if the trap does bite the GOP but am not completely convinced.
1. McCain is already testing out the same plan that I would do if I were him: Get a bipartisan group to say there is an emergency and that the defense cuts cannot go through. Menawhile, any non-defense cuts carry on. Does Obama veto that? Because I cannot see the senate democrats filibustering it (successfully. I remember when a democrat tried the same procedural technique to stop the patriot act renewal that the GOP had been using successfully. The secret hold was ignored – surprise surprise.)
2. Those who _know_ that Obama will veto an extension of the Bush tax cuts know more than I do. There will likely be another payroll tax cut hostage in the mix a year from now, too.
Samara Morgan
@Amir Khalid: liar liar pants on fire. that is not what either you or mixie said.
The supercommittee is a trap– an elegant cleverly designed trap that will bite both the hard left and the hard right.
It was designed that way.
Samara Morgan
@catclub: McCain is going to have a hard time justifying the Iraq monies, since we are getting KICKED OUT in December.
THat is why the Iran warmongering.
But i think Americans have had a bellyful of fighting Israels wars.
lol, the Bushcuts are a hostage. No one knows how a hostage negotiation will come out, but at least our side has one this time.
John Weiss
@cleek: Bullshit.
Amir Khalid
@Samara Morgan:
Sticks and stones, sayang, sticks and stones.
jayjaybear
It’s actually the Legion of Substitute Super Committee Members. Instead of Sun Boy and Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, you have Chlorophyll Kid and Night Girl and Porcupine Pete.
TenguPhule
STEP 1: SHOOT THE HOSTAGE.
gaz
Maybe I’m off base, as I have only paid passing attention to the super committee, but IIRC aren’t the automatic budget cuts supposed to primarily be targeted at our MIC?
I’ve been running with that assumption (forget where I picked it up).
My thought is, if that’s the case, that this is potentially good news. Not that we’ll see the pentagon get slashed in 2013/2014 but *maybe* we will if they don’t find a way around it (as I understand Obama has said he’d block anything/anyone that tried).
So with that in mind, I’ve been hoping something like this would happen. I never wanted them to agree on anything, because I assumed if they did, all members of the committee (party be damned) would be in it for screwing the middle class.
So if they don’t agree, the MIC takes a big hit – at least in theory, amirite? =)
If so, isn’t this a *good* thing?
Tim Connor
I would be happy if they did nothing. Let’s hear it for inaction!
My fear is that they’ll give away the store.
Read Charles Pierce.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/supercommittee-tax-increase-6560429