Mission Accomplished: Nothing; Kerry Says No Problem "Lawmakers Have a Year"; Boehner's, Pelosi's "Moral Obligations" Fly Out the Window; McCain's Hypocrisy; Look for US Debt Downgrades

The official "deadline" for the alleged SuperCommitte to come to an agreement is November 23. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), needs to have reached a deal today.

The Super Wimps failed in their mission as anyone with any common sense might have guessed. There simply is no sense of urgency.

This paragraph from the Bloomberg article Supercommittee Is Said to Be Poised to Announce Failure of Talks says all you need to know:

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Democrat on the panel, said lawmakers have a year before the automatic spending cuts are set to occur. “We have an election between now and then and a lot can take place,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Yes indeed, the real deadline is not tomorrow but rather 2013. A lot can happen by then, including a decision to not cut anything at all.

Boehner's Moral Obligation Goes Out the Window

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, have said they support the trigger. “The markets should know that the deficit reduction will occur,” Pelosi said on Nov. 3. Boehner has said he “personally” feels a moral obligation to uphold the cuts.

So much for Boehner's "Moral Obligations" and Pelosi's promise to do something.

McCain Goes One Step Further

McCain, even went one step further.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, are already trying to use legislative levers to stop the automatic cuts from taking effect.

Cuts? Who Needs Cuts?

Clearly McCain is a hypocrite. Were it not for an even worse setup in Europe, the US dollar would be taking a pounding here.

Expect US Debt Downgrades

Look for further downgrades of US debt by Moody's, Fitch, and S&P.

To even things out, look for downgrades of France as well.

"Super Committee" Idiocy

Please consider what I had to say on July 25, 2011 in "Super Committee" is Super Idiocy

Super Committee Nonsense

I thought it was Tim Geithner who came up with the "Super Committee" idea but he was merely silly enough to latch on to it. The latest hare-brained scheme comes from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Constitutional concerns aside, abdicating legislative responsibility to a super committee with super powers is idiotic. Besides didn't the Gang-of-Six just attempt to do something similar? And where did that plan go after a year of wrangling?

Is a 12 man committee more likely to agree to something than a 6 man committee? Anyone who thinks so has mush for brains.

Of course the whole idea might be to save face for both parties so that no one has to do anything but point fingers and blame the other side for lack of sensible action.

Each passing day delivers more reasons to be disgusted with leaders of both parties.

Mission a Brilliant Success, Achieves 100% of Its Goals

The Super Committee accomplished nothing, as expected, and more importantly, as designed.  Neither political party really wanted to do anything about the deficit (because it would cost them votes). By D.C. standards this mission was a "brilliant success". It achieved its purpose, which was to do nothing. Both parties got the smoke-and-mirrors delay they wanted, while pointing fingers at the other side.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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