As Time Ran Out, Super Committee Watched Football, Hung Around in Bars

[oberliner]

Now that there's nothing left to be secretive about, Super Committee Democrats and Republicans are sharing details about the deficit-reduction panel's fabulous collapse with members of the press. In short: the committee's failure to come up with $1.2 trillion in deficit savings was not for lack of food, beer, changes of scenery or sideshow entertainment.

In a behind-the-scenes account, Politico's Jake Sherman, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan show how Republicans had checked out from negotiations, acknowledging that the two sides were not going to come to an agreement on taxing and spending. "On Thursday night, wearing a baseball cap and jeans, Camp retreated to Penn Quarter Sports Tavern with Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), where they watched the New York Jets play the Denver Broncos on TV. His tax expertise wasn’t needed because no compromise was close," they report. "On Sunday, a day before the panel’s deadline, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) was at the Washington Redskins game. While at FedEx Field, Upton jumped on a conference call with supercommittee colleagues who had left D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday."

http://news.yahoo.com/time-ran-super-committee-watched-football-hung-around-150322495.html

[bullwinkle428]

1. Sounds like they were really anxious to work out a deal.

[Response]

2. All Senators and Reps should have their pay/benefits/retirement

cut in half until they start working for the majority of the American people. All of them.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Sounds good!

:thumbsup:

[Snotcicles]

5. It's not all of them, it's the stinking republicans. nt

[Response]

13. All of them. Make it a wakeup call.

[bemildred]

4. Just following the script.

And if you think this is not all scripted, I have news for you.

[oberliner]

14. You don't think any attempt was made in earnest?

Doomed from the start, deliberately?

[bemildred]

15. Pretty much.

Not saying that there were no sincere people involved, just that the people calling the shots had no intention that this "plan" would work. It was a stall, and a political ploy, not a true attempt to arrive at a policy solution to our financial problems. There is some disagreement among the perps as to who should get left holding the bag when it fails, and in that respect I call this a win for Obama, who has positioned himself well for next year, portraying the Pubbies as job-killers, tools of the super-rich, and obstructionists.

[SpiralHawk]

6. Freaking Republicons planned this FAIL for America all along

what anti-American a-holes the Republicons are.

Freaking RepubliWankers Against America.

[jorno67]

7. This should be the lead story on every News outlet in the US!

But of course it's not!

[Snotcicles]

8. Once you hit that obstructionist republican wall what else can you do? nt

[Snotcicles]

9. We all knew what was going to happen. Been there done that. nt

[KamaAina]

10. Well, I can see that.

I'm sure they can identify with the Chiefs (who got waxed by New England last night). :eyes:

[handmade34]

11. time was up before they started...

it was disingenuous to even pretend to convene a "supercommittee"

[dtexdem]

12. Good, much better than conniving to hurt America.

I mean, they'd already done enough of that -- it's good they took a break from it that helped assure that no horrid plan did emerge.

[Rex]

16. Congress is a fucking JOKE!