Help the Super Committee
Friday, September 23, 2011
Super Committee Needs Your Help
Members of the bipartisan Super Committee are reaching out to
congressional committees for input and ideas on how to reduce
spending and the deficit, and the public is welcome to weigh in as
well. All you need to is complete this form.
This bipartisan group of House and Senate members is tasked
with coming up with at least $1.2 trillion in savings over 10
years, and faces a November 23 deadline. The group is
officially known as the Joint Select Committee
on Deficit Reduction, but is often called the Super
Committee. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is the only Ohioan on
the Super
Committee.
This group has a thorny job ahead and if cannot come up with a
plan for savings and deficit reduction that is ready for a vote
before Thanksgiving, automatic spending cuts included in an
August deal to raise the debt ceiling will be triggered.
Those cuts will include both domestic and military spending.
To keep up on the progress of the Super Committee, click
here. If you want to review a calendar of scheduled
Super Committee hearings, click
here.
Also, you should know that this Super Committee is not the same
as the National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which was
set up by President Obama and chaired by two White House-appointed
co-chairs: Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President
Clinton, and former-Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY).
The
Simpson-Bowles Report, released in December 2010, contained
many ideas for reducing spending, addressing entitlements and
tackling tax reform, but was not embraced by the President and no
vote took place last year. Of the 18 members on the
commission (not just legislators, but business and union leaders),
14 had to approve the report in order to move it to Congress for a
vote. Congress never had an opportunity for an up-or-down
vote because the final report was supported by just 11 of the
commission members.
While the Simpson-Bowles report was not approved by Congress,
it's possible some items that report could be embraced by the Super
Committee. Again, you can review the Simpson-Bowles
recommendations
here. You may agree with some of the proposals, or a review may
spur you to think of even better ideas to help the country get out
of this fiscal abyss.
Finally, if you're interested in what House Republicans are
doing about job creation and reducing regulations, you might want
to visit this site for jobs and this site for
regulations.