A bipartisan deficit-cutting super-committee invested with powerful tools to accomplish its goals is ready to concede defeat according to a report by Reuters.
For the past three months, Democratic and Republican members of the committee have been working to reach an agreement on how to tame the United States’ massive financial problems. The problem faced by the committee was no small one -- cutting the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years -- yet hopes were high that lawmakers could strike an accord that would put the country back on more stable economic footing. The committee had the power to quickly push legislation through Congress, yet failed to capitalize on that opportunity.
With the failure of the super committee, taxpayers are left with several major concerns. First, with the 2012 election cycle heading into full swing, the country will likely have to wait until 2013 or even 2014 to address the problem further. Secondly, the partisan bickering that kept committee members from reaching an agreement is unlikely to be any less acrimonious after the 2012 elections. Also, with the United States’ credit worthiness already in question by some ratings agencies, will this be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back and sends the country into further economic decline? Unfortunately, those are just some of the concerns.
But ask yourself this -- did you really expect the super-committee to succeed in the first place? Like the alcoholic or drug addict that must reach rock bottom before getting help, our Congress appears unable to shake its addiction to bloated government and partisanship while there is still further to fall. With this failure, our elected leaders have taken us one step closer to the bottom.
