Kerry and Baucus both say that increasing jobs should be part of the supercommittee's solution [View All]

[karynnj]

This article has comments that suggest the Democrats on the super committee are listening to the country and the progressive caucus. Expanding the economy will by itself lower government costs and raise revenues - thus lowering the debt.

Democrats on the Super Congress will insist that the body's mandate be expanded to include job creation measures, setting up the first major ideological battle a day before the panel is set to meet for the first time.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said on Wednesday that Democrats on the panel are in agreement that the national debt can't be decreased without growing the economy. "It's part of the recovery. Growth will raise revenue," Baucus said after a lunch meeting with Democrats. He declined to specify the size of a stimulus package he'd want included. "It's gotta be one that makes sense," he said, distancing himself, apparently, from the camp that advocates a senseless plan.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the author of a bill to create an infrastructure bank that would spur construction lending, also said that the panel should focus on job growth. "I don't think you can reduce the deficit of the country in the scope that we need to without growth," he said. "We have to have that discussion."

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The Democratic insistence on a focus on jobs puts the party's panel members in step with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which previously called for the committee to prioritize job creation as a way to pay down the debt. As more people find work, more workers are paying income taxes and fewer are collecting unemployment benefits or disability.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/07/super-congress-super-committee-members_n_952606.html