Chart of the Day

Posted on November 5, 2011 at 4:00 pm by JM Ashby

via Brian Beutler of TPM

Yup, $0.00.

The GOP plan contained about $2.2 trillion in cuts — well over the $1.2 trillion minimum required of the Super Committee by the debt limit law. That left the Republicans ample room to include many kinds of near-term growth measures, but they picked none.

You don’t create jobs without growth, and the plan being pushed by the Republicans on the so-called “Super Committee” contains no measures to spur growth.

Apparently they are content with relying on the Growth Fairy to come along and leave jobs under our pillows after harsh austerity is implemented.

It seems likely that the Super Committee will never reach an agreement, and then one of two things will happen. Either the automatic triggers, which will begin to take effect in 2013, will become the law, or the Republicans will push for removing the automatic triggers to protect the Pentagon and we can all pretend the debt-ceiling deal never happened.

I’m betting on the latter scenario.

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  • andrewdski

    Actually, no, the Republicans will push to remove only the defense cuts. The choice presented Democratic lawmakers will be either agree to exchange the defense cuts for draconian cuts on non-defense programs, or admit that you are soft on defense, and willing to gut the pentagon.

    Given that choice in an election year, I expect enough Democratic defections that Republicans get more or less what hey wanted all along. No tax increases, and huge cuts in social programs.

    I’m not sure the Republicans are smart enough that I can say this was the plan all along, but it is certainly the plan now.

    I’d love to be wrong, but this is what I see playing out over the next 12 months.

    • JMAshby

      It doesn’t work that way. Either the committee agrees, or the automatic triggers go into effect. The Republicans can’t force the Dems on the committee to agree to anything because the automatic triggers already favor Dem positions.

      Both houses of congress also have to agree on whatever the committee comes up with, so you’re looking at either auto-triggers or removing the triggers.

      Some Republicans have already said they may repeal the triggers to save the pentagon.

      • maggy

        You are correct from what i have read. POTUS/Dems designed this trap. Hope it works…

      • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

        But with the help of the usual DINO’s w0n’t the Republicans have a good shot at getting rid of the automatic triggers?

  • jjasonham

    I don’t know. By that time, wouldn’t it be even harder to try and protect the Pentagon’s massive budget? In order for republicans to remove those automatic triggers toward the Pentagon, they will be put on the defense during an election year…an election year that will inevitably see the drawdown of Iraq as a focal point in the campaign.

  • trgahan

    So what happens when all the non-defense/corporate welfare government spending hits zero and not a single job is created and the economic standing of the majority of Americans remains the same or worse?

    • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

      I don’t think it will get to that extreme. And the right will continue to argue that we never REALLY let the free market work.