In case you weren’t paying attention during the debate about the extension of the Bush tax cuts last year, members of Congress are again working on a deal to clearly show there is no such thing as a deficit hawk. From Politico: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is quietly working both sides of the Capitol to [...]

There are increasing signs that the Super Committee won’t reach a deal. This is great news, because no deal means no cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and presumably less likelihood that we will implement dramatically more destructive austerity in the middle of an economic downturn. Reports coming out indicate that the individuals involved are [...]

The Democrats on the Super Committee, in their efforts to reach an deal with Republicans, have offered a new deficit reduction package and just like their last offer this one also contains cuts to Medicare benefits. From Politico: Supercommittee Democrats quietly floated details late Wednesday of a $2.3 trillion tax-and-cut proposal that includes $400 billion [...]

It was clear from the inception of the deficit reduction Super Committee that it was designed for the purpose of cutting entitlements, especially Social Security benefits. The Super Committee proposal was given the same protection from a filibuster as debate on a reconciliation bill, but the Super Committee proposal is not subject to the same [...]

An article in Politico about President Obama’s deficit speech, by Carrie Budoff Brown and Ben Smith, starts with the line, “President Barack Obama finally gave his liberal critics exactly what they wanted.” I want to make it clear that in no way was this deficit speech what I wanted. With unemployment over 9 percent and [...]

Republican Super Congress member Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ) has come out against the committee trying to reach a “grand bargain” that includes new taxes and entitlement reform. From National Journal: A top Republican on the super committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years said on Tuesday he will ask fellow [...]

The Appeals Court of the 11th Circuit just ruled that the individual mandate in the new Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. The ruling does, though, leave the rest of the law intact. From Politico: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that the health care reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy [...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the first congressional leader to pick his three members for Catfood Commission II. From Politico: In the first of what will be a closely watched selection process for a powerful new deficit panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Max Baucus [...]

Over at Politico Byron Tau and Ben Smith are raising the red flag about the possibility of Republicans using the expiration of the 18.4 cent per gallon gas tax on September 30th as their new hostage in the next stage of disaster legislating. The anti-tax Republicans are already making noises about not extending this tax. [...]