Remember the whole grand compromise kick-the-can super-committee that the GOP agreed to with the Dems on how to deal with the deficit (why we're bothering with the deficit when the problem is jobs remains a mystery) thing? Where the super-committee would either come up with a way to cut the deficit (through spending cuts and/or tax increases), or else there would be automatic massive cuts in both entitlement spending and defense, and the latter would be what would drive the GOP to compromise on tax increases alongside spending cuts?
Yeah, of course that was never going to actually happen, as the GOP leadership reveals that, hey, the Dems either accept the deal, or the GOP will focus totally on blocking any defense cuts, leveraging the Democratic Administration's own Secretary of Defense claiming that to make any sort of substantial cuts would mean DOOOOOM.
And, of course, I expect the Dems to not only compromise down to the GOP proposal, but show how reasonable and bipartisan they are by cutting even more social programs than the GOP is asking (and not raising taxes at all), so that they can then claim some sort of "leadership" going into the 2012 campaign season.
This is why we can't have nice things … #ddtb
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Top GOPer On Super Committee Says No New Revenue, Games Out Strategy If Panel Fails | TPMDC
It’s hard to see how the Super Committee can possibly reach a consensus by this time next week after Republican co-chair Jeb Hensarling’s latest comments.