Post date: Nov 21, 2011 10:55:41 PM
Congressional leaders of the 12-member "super committee" are expected to announce their efforts to rein in the U.S. debt have failed. White House spokesman Jay Carney says deficit reduction "will happen regardless" under the Budget Control Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 21, 2011) (NBC) - After months of talks, the high-profile congressional effort to rein in the ballooning U.S. debt is expected to end in failure on Monday (November 21) with negotiators announcing they could not bridge deep divides over taxes and spending cuts.
The Republican and Democratic leaders of a 12-member congressional "super committee" are set to declare defeat in a joint statement later on Monday. They failed to find enough common ground on a package of at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.
As the clock ticked down to a Monday deadline to publish the results of any deal, a small group of panel members gathered for a last-ditch effort to compromise. When the meeting broke up, lawmakers - some serious, others amused by the media hordes - said they were having last-minute talks and a statement would be released later.
"We are still talking," Co-Chair of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee U.S. Senator Patty Murray said.
Congressional aides who have worked closely with the panel said they had little hope of any progress - echoed by the super committee members themselves.
Failure to reach a deal on deficit reduction would trigger $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next decade, beginning in 2013.
The deadlock focuses on Republican opposition to tax increases, particularly on the wealthiest Americans, and Democratic refusal to cut into federal retirement and healthcare benefits without such tax increases.
After a year of bruising budget battles, super committee failure would be another sign that U.S. lawmakers are too entrenched in their positions to compromise on the tax increases and benefit cuts that budget experts say are needed to set the country's finances on a stable path.
The super committee, with six Republicans and six Democrats, had until Wednesday (November 23) midnight to vote on a deal. But the deadline to have a legislation written and presented to the entire panel was Monday.
Market expectations for a deal were low, and investors have viewed the United States as a relative safe haven from the debt crisis in the euro zone. But failure could remind investors of the risks posed by gridlock in Washington.
President Barack Obama kept his distance from the talks, choosing instead to emphasize a job creation package that was blocked by Republicans in Congress. Aides believe Obama will be able to use the super committee's failure to paint Republicans as obstructionists during his 2012 re-election campaign.
As the super committee appeared set to announce its failure, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama had put forth a "comprehensive plan."
"It is important to remember in terms of the deficit reduction that is embedded within the Budget Control Act that that will go forward, that the 1.2 trillion dollars (USD) as a minimum will happen as prescribed by law. Again, not in the way that we want, not in the way that Congress should want, which is why Congress should take the opportunity to act and deal with this in a balanced way and a fair way and a responsible way. But, the deficit reduction will happen regardless," Carney told reporters.