Obama's Deficit Commission Plan Stalls
WASHINGTON D.C. (
) -- President Obama's deficit commission couldn't muster the votes for consensus on a plan to cut the deficit by $3.9 trillion over the next nine years, leaving the huge government deficit in Capitol Hill limbo.
The panel was expected to fall three votes short of the 14-vote goal that both President Obama and Congressional leaders had marked as the tipping point for moving ahead with a legislative effort.
The deficit reduction proposal by panel co-chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson was seeking to cut $3.9 trillion from the deficit over the next nine years through spending cuts and tax increases.
The failure of the deficit budget panel is not a big surprise, as key political players in Washington D.C. have been predicting for days that the effort would stall. This morning,
Politico.com
reported that six members of the panel would vote against the plan, dooming the 14-vote majority asked for by President Obama and Congress.
Politico.com
reported that the vote went 11-7 in favor of the plan.
"No" votes include the three Republican House members on the commission -- Reps. Paul Ryan, Jeb Hensarling and Dave Camp -- along with Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, according to a report on
Politico.com
. The head of the Service Employees International Union, Andy Stern, was also planning to vote against the proposal.
Baucus issued a statement saying, "I have studied the Deficit Commission recommendations at length -- and I can tell you they are wrong for Montana and wrong for rural communities across the country. Reducing our federal deficit is imperative, but we cannot cut the deficit at the expense of veterans, seniors, ranchers, farmers and hard-working families. Instead, we need to look for common-sense ways to help businesses create jobs and grow our economy. These recommendations are wrong for our state, they are wrong for our country, and I simply can't support them."
-- Written by Eric Rosenbaum from New York.
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