No, `both sides’ aren’t equally to blame for supercommittee failure

[ProSense]

No, `both sides’ aren’t equally to blame for supercommittee failure

By Greg Sargent

Here’s why the supercommittee is failing, in one sentence: Democrats wanted the rich to pay more in taxes towards deficit reduction, and Republicans wanted the rich to pay less in taxes towards deficit reduction.

Any news outlet that doesn’t convey this basic fact to readers and viewers with total clarity is obscuring, rather than illuminating, what actually happened here.

I agree with those who have argued that supercommittee failure doesn’t really matter all that much, and that the obsession with the deficit is itself misguided and makes solutions to the actual crisis at hand — unemployment — far less likely to happen.

But since the press is going to be obsessing over the supercommittee’s failure for days to come, and since we will be inundated with reams of bogus false equivalence reporting about it, it’s worth stating as clearly as possible what really transpired.

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[catgirl]

1. K&R

[Uben]

2. Any extension of Bush tax cuts is off the table

You wanna pledge? There's one for ya!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. Republicans don't want "shared sacrifice"

they want "unilateral sacrifice" (by the 99%). If they were responsible and really serious about deficit reduction, they would sit down and level with the 1% about how they need to sacrifice along with everybody else. That they continue to refuse to do so just illustrates that they either really don't believe the deficit is a serious problem or they believe that the "sacrifice" needs to be borne exclusively by the 99% (or both).

[JoePhilly]

4. Simply ask the question, what "pledge" did the Dems sign that limits their ability

to compromise?

The GOP members signed that Norquist pledge which limits their ability to compromise.

That should be the response from the Dems on this.

"The Norquist pledge the GOP members signed limits their ability to compromise".

Repeat that sentence, or a version of it, over and over.

End of story.

[opihimoimoi]

5. OUR DEMs stood their GROUND on the big 3...for that I am proud

[Bragi]

6. This process was intended to fail

I believe there will be no partisan winner in the finger-pointing exercise over who killed the supercommittee.

It was set up to buy time and was intended and expected to fail. It has succeeded in so doing.

Trying to assign "blame" here is just partisan noise.

[zbdent]

7. When Dems give 10 miles

and Repugs give an inch ... that's "balanced" ... according to the "liberally-biased media" ...

[hedgehog]

8. kick

[politicasista]

9. Hopefully, the President will rally behind those six Dems

especially one of his alies, whom have been smeared on this site and who's Facebook pages are getting slammed with hateful, vitriolic comments. JAO

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. K & R