Talks aimed at finding $1.2 trillion in savings produce nothing
The congressional deficit-reduction or “super” committee is predicted to announce failure Monday.
According to the BBC, two months of talks between six Democrats and six Republicans assigned to find $1.2 trillion in spending reductions are reported to have collapsed.
The bipartisan committee legally has until Wednesday to reach an agreement but Monday is the deadline to have legislation written and presented to the entire committee.
The failure of the committee to reach an agreement sets in motion automatic spending cuts starting in January 2013. CNN reports leaders for both parties are unhappy with the nature of the fallback plan, which cuts evenly from domestic and defense programs.
“Nobody wants to give up hope. Reality is, to some extent, starting to overtake hope,” Representative Jeb Hensarling, the panel’s Republican co-chairman, said on “Fox News Today.”
While President Barack Obama has avoided any involvement with the committee since making his recommendations in September, a White House spokeswoman urged the panel to make the “tough choices” to complete its task.
According to CNN, Republicans are opposed to Democrats’ suggestions of tax increases, especially on the wealthy. Democrats refuse to make cuts to popular entitlement programs such as Medicare of Medicaid.
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