Obama Laments Failure Of Super-Committee
By: VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions
Updated: November 22, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC -- President Obama laments the failure of the congressional super-committee on debt and deficits.
In a statement at the White House, the President said an overwhelming majority of Americans support a reasonable, balanced approach to deficit reduction.
Obama accused many Republicans of refusing to listen to the "voices of reason and compromise."
The super-committee finished its business with a statement acknowledging failure.
The 12-member, bipartisan panel was charged with finding more than one-trillion dollars in spending cuts over ten years.
Republicans and Democrats on the super-committee were stuck in familiar territory, unable to agree on tax hikes for the wealthy or cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
The panel's failure is supposed to trigger sweeping, across-the-board budget cuts, beginning in 2013.
Half the cuts would be in national security, including defense.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned of devastating consequences.
Some lawmakers have already started talking about working around, or defusing the trigger.
President Obama threatened to veto any attempt to get rid of the triggered cuts.
He said there will not be any "easy off ramps" to deficit reduction.
(Copyright 2011 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)
In a statement at the White House, the President said an overwhelming majority of Americans support a reasonable, balanced approach to deficit reduction.
Obama accused many Republicans of refusing to listen to the "voices of reason and compromise."
The super-committee finished its business with a statement acknowledging failure.
The 12-member, bipartisan panel was charged with finding more than one-trillion dollars in spending cuts over ten years.
Republicans and Democrats on the super-committee were stuck in familiar territory, unable to agree on tax hikes for the wealthy or cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
The panel's failure is supposed to trigger sweeping, across-the-board budget cuts, beginning in 2013.
Half the cuts would be in national security, including defense.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned of devastating consequences.
Some lawmakers have already started talking about working around, or defusing the trigger.
President Obama threatened to veto any attempt to get rid of the triggered cuts.
He said there will not be any "easy off ramps" to deficit reduction.
(Copyright 2011 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)
