Parties Discuss Sequester Working Groups
A few members of Congress are now proposing House-Senate working groups to try and negotiate a compromise that would avoid the squester. From The Hill:
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said that forming the bipartisan working groups would be a critical piece in getting lawmakers in both chambers on the same page, regarding the automatic defense cuts under sequestration.
"I see that as the [main] step forward right now," Ayotte said on Tuesday of the planned House-Senate working groups.
It is good to see members of Congress moving to address this issue now, as it will be difficult to leave all of these negotiations until the lame duck session. In the meantime, the private sector is already preparing for the fallout.
These talks are a start, but both sides are going to have to overcome great hurdles before we see any change to the sequester. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said that Democrats had discussed the idea of working groups, but highlighted the challenges that any effort will face. Specifically, he said:
My position is pretty straightforward. We have to find $1.2 trillion, revenue has to be part of it and we can’t separate out defense. I don’t want to see transportation and housing and education devastated any more than I want to see defense devastated.
Fixing the fiscal cliff will be difficult, so efforts to get the talks going are positive. However, real comphrensive reform will require sacrifices from both parties, and until both sides are willing to come to an agreement our nation's future will remain uncertain.
The full story can be found here.
Adam Smith: Get a clue!
By proportion of the federal budget and by every other measure defense has been in decline over the past 30 years (even with war funding), while SS and Medicare continue to grow as a proportion of the federal govt and out of proportion to the numbers of baby boomers reaching retirement age. Please find the reason for that growth (reducing eligibility to US citizens/ only those for which it was originally intended would be a good start) and cut SS and Medicare....FIRST! You like to talk about protecting American jobs, well it seems the best way to do that is to ensure a strong defense which in every way protects American jobs.
Raising revenue: It's a no-brainer, but a flatter federal tax code is absolutely necessary to continue to remain competitive with the rest of the world. There is little skin in the game for those who are complaining the most. Making them pay something would make up more revenue than just the BS tax the rich mantra from the Dem party.
When it comes right down to it..just get off your butt, have some courage, tell the truth and get us out of this mess.
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