The so-called supercommittee has more than two weeks to come up with a plan to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the deficit.
In a conference call with journalists Wednesday, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he’s still confident the panel will reach a fair and balanced agreement by the deadline.
“Things are starting to percolate,” he said. “There’s movement all around, which is good, but we have a long, long way to go.”
Wednesday, 100 bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to the committee, urging it to aim for a higher deficit-reduction target.
“…A target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s fiscal well-being,” the letter said. “To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table.”
In the conference call, Baucus implied that the committee would aim for that target, stating that the agreement reached will be “on the large side.”
As the deadline nears, organizations and individuals continue to make suggestions and requests to the supercommittee on what to keep and what to cut.
One group has even put out an advertisement urging viewers to contact Baucus.
Tuesday, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action launched an online advertising campaign highlighting what it considers “wasteful energy subsidies, tax breaks and other giveaways to big energy companies.”
The ad features images of gas prices and income tax returns with the message:
Do you know you’re paying twice for gas and electricity?
Once at the pump.
And then again when you pay taxes.
Tell Sen. Baucus: No more handouts for energy companies!
“In April, Sen. Baucus drafted legislation to end subsidies and tax breaks for America’s largest oil companies,” Ryan Alexander, president of the organization, said. “Now that Sen. Baucus is a member of the supercommittee on deficit reduction, it’s time for Montanans, and all of us, to stand up and support him in cutting the indefensible, obsolete and simply wasteful subsidies for energy companies, starting with tax preferences for the most profitable companies in the world — the oil and gas companies.”
And last week, Mervin Gunderson, a Belgrade American Legion member, was in Washington, D.C., to meet with Baucus and discuss veterans’ concerns over potential cuts to the budget.
In early August, the defense budget was cut by about $450 billion over the next decade, according to a Legion news release. Among the 175,000-plus recommendations received by the supercommittee were further reductions to the defense and veterans budget.
And, if the panel fails to reach an agreement, billions could be automatically cut from defense programs.
The Legion said in its prepared statement that those cuts “would place America’s national security at risk.”
“We certainly comprehend and appreciate the enormous financial challenges our country is facing today,” Fang A. Wong, national commander of the American Legion, said in the release. “We also want Congress to understand that benefits for veterans and military families shouldn’t be first in line when it comes to budget cuts.”
Political Notebook: Counting down to supercommittee deadline (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)
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