Reid, Boehner huddle on budget deal

[Zorro]

Source: Reuters

The top Democrat in Congress said on Tuesday he saw few signs of progress on a deficit-cutting deal, as negotiators struggled to bridge their differences on tax increases and benefit cuts.

His Republican counterpart, meanwhile, predicted that Congress would approve a deal that might emerge from a 12-member "super committee" tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in budget savings.

Democrats and Republicans on the panel have less than a week to come up with a plan, but they remain far apart on how much of that total should consist of tax increases and how much should come from trimming retirement and health benefits.

Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Republican co-chairman of the super committee, said there was no deal yet but any compromise crafted by the panel would not include big tax hikes.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/reid-boehner-huddle-budget-deal-013931070.html

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Boehner is setting the stage for Republicants to howl that the Democrats refused to "compromise" and are to blame for the impending mandated defense budget cuts.

[AlinPA]

1. That's a joke. Boehner "huddling" with Reid? No way that works.

[gateley]

2. Sometimes Reid surprises me and is impressive in a stance or

action. But I just get the feeling I wish someone else from the Dem side was in the position to "huddle with Boehner".

[RKP5637]

3. It all gets so asinine it's even hard to follow it gets so visceral. n/t

[TheDebbieDee]

4. Prof. Melissa Perry said earlier this evening on TRMS, I think,

that the republicans are trying to draw the Dems to the negotiating table by dangling revenue enhancements. She thinks the repukes are trying to trick the Dems again. I hope she's wrong.

[DallasNE]

5. So Much Confusion

Reuters apparently just publish the Republican talking points. The $1.2T mentioned in the article is actually the amount of budget cuts that would be triggered should the Super Committee fail to report out a measure. Following is what Wikipedia shows as what this committee is supposed to come up with.

"The committee is charged with issuing a recommendation by November 23, 2011 for at least $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction steps to be undertaken over a ten‐year period.<4><8><16> This would be the second installment of deficit reduction measures. Possible areas to be examined by the committee include: revenue increases, including raising taxes; tax reforms, such as simplifying the tax code and eliminating some tax breaks and loopholes; military spending cuts; and measures to reform and slow the growth of entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.<15".[br />
Somebody should tell Boehner to read the damn bill that established this committee and someone should tell Reuters to fact check their story before publishing the garbage coming from Boehner.

[Javaman]

6. whistle while you work...

more puffery and brain damaged kabuki theater.

we are sliding down a slope and they tottle with more propaganda thinking that if they speak enough words some sort of brilliant deduction will be reached.

like everything this congress doesn't do, nothing will be "solved" until disaster is emanate.

then they will shove through something so erroneous, so odoriferous that we will all, once again, have to hold our noses and pray that we don't get too badly screwed.

whistle while you work...