John Mccain Ready To Overturn Debt Deal ‘Trigger’ (Over Military Cuts)

[Purveyor]

By SCOTT WONG | 10/13/11 4:11 PM EDT

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl last month threatened to quit the supercommittee if defense programs are faced with more cuts. Now, fellow Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain is vowing to “nullify” part of a law that would impose major military cuts if the deficit panel can’t reach a deal.

“If there is a failure on the part of the supercommittee, we will be amongst the first on the floor to nullify that provision. Congress is not bound by this. It’s something we passed. We can reverse it,” McCain, a defense hawk and the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Thursday at a news conference.

“As far as I’m concerned, I will fight any additional cuts in defense spending,” he added, “but I will also tell you that cost overruns as far as procurement is concerned is an insult to American taxpayers. There are efficiencies that can still be imposed.”

The 12-member supercommittee of lawmakers, created by the legislation that increased the debt limit this summer, is tasked with coming up with a 10-year plan to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion before Thanksgiving. If the panel fails in that effort or if Congress rejects the plan, automatic across-the-board cuts — evenly split between defense and discretionary spending — will be triggered in 2013 to make up the difference.

MORE...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65913.html

[Enrique]

1. and the dems can filibuster

and Obama can veto.

Go ahead, Senator, dig up that debt deal issue that the American people are 100% sick of, and drop Congress's approval ratings below zero.

[msongs]

2. for unleashing palin he ought to be stripped of his office nt

[asjr]

3. I may be out in left field but something

about this "super" committee bothers me. It just sounds like the entire Senate and House got together and threw up their hands and said Well, we can't do anything. We can't get our acts together so we will pick 12 of us to try to come up with something. If this is the case why bother with voting all these people to go to D.C. in the first place. Yes, this is all rhetorical but I am so fed up with everyone in D.C. I wonder if anyone at all there has any sense.

[blueclown]

4. Sorry, McLame.

Not possible. The supercommittee trigger provision has been written into law. You voted for friggin bill too. What a hypocrite.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Dude voted for the defense cuts

he already fucking voted for them!

Now he's all like, hey, wait a second. So the GOP got their teevee optics victory on the debt deal, but the WH built in the time bomb. Now McCain and Kyl and others realize it, so they're freaking out.

Tick tock, motherfuckers. Raise taxes or stand on the giant defense cuts you voted for. Which is it?

Tick fuckin' tock.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Really? How's he gonna do that? The Congress already passed it.

He can't "nullify" the law. he would have to pass another law to do so.

As it turns out, the GOPers can't stand the defense cuts built in should the debt committee fail, and the debt committee is constructed such that it can't succeed without significant tax increases.

So who's in a pickle now?