CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Nov. 15, 2011 – 11:14 p.m.
Leaders’ Private Meeting Highlights Deficit Talks
By Paul M. Krawzak, CQ Staff
Active involvement by House and Senate leaders Tuesday suggested that budget negotiations have moved to a new stage.
Members of the joint deficit committee were working feverishly to find agreement eight days before their deadline. And while there was little visible movement toward a deal, multiple conversations among panel members continued, and congressional leaders met with rank-and-file lawmakers.
Offering an indication of where the talks might be headed, some deficit panel Democrats indicated a willingness to settle for less than the $1 trillion in new revenue they have been insisting upon. No formal proposal with a smaller revenue figure has been offered.
House Speaker
Although Reid later minimized the significance of the exchange, saying the discussion of the joint committee was “non-substantive,” aides in both parties who are close to the committee saw the session as a positive sign.
“I don’t think there’s anything to kick up to the leadership level until there’s something that we can look at,” said Reid, adding that he and Boehner discussed no specific plans. “There’s nothing to look at, as far as I know.”
The majority leader repeated a Democratic complaint that Republicans have yet to endorse a sufficient increase in revenue as part of a plan to meet the joint committee’s savings target.
Reid also said that if the panel does not meet its mandate, he would prefer that statutory automatic spending cuts be allowed to take effect. “I would not vote to undo the sequester,” he said.
Evolving Deliberations
Although no comprehensive proposal has been introduced by either party since last week, committee members have been meeting in pairs and small groups in an effort to bridge their differences over taxes and changes in entitlement spending.
If the committee does not recommend at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings by Nov. 23, and if Congress does not clear a bill produced by the committee by Dec. 23, automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion will take effect beginning in January 2013.
Perhaps with an eye toward avoiding politically motivated leaks, joint committee deliberations have moved beyond offers of comprehensive plans to more fluid and informal discussions aimed at finding common ground.
Earlier this week, a Democratic aide close to the committee said a proposal was in the works to reduce the Democrats’ revenue demand to $800 billion or less. The aide said the plan would rely on a two-step process, with a tax increase “down payment” followed by instructions to tax- writing committees to produce $500 billion through an overhaul of the tax code. Republicans said Democrats have not yet proposed such a plan, and its fate was uncertain.
Leaders’ Private Meeting Highlights Deficit Talks
One Democratic source said the proposal originated with
Baucus brushed off questions about the proposal, and declined to confirm it while he was on his way to a meeting on Tuesday. “We’re working very hard for a balanced bill because we have to,” he said. “It is very important for the sake of our country to get significant deficit reduction. That’s what we’re doing.”
Even if Democrats reduce their revenue demand, they will also need to offer a more substantive plan for curbing the growth of entitlement programs including Medicare and Medicaid, Republicans said.
GOP committee members last week offered a tax overhaul proposed by Sen.
A Republican aide familiar with the panel’s deliberations said GOP reaction to any Democratic offer will depend on the level of Medicare and Medicaid savings it assumes. “If it’s big enough it might sell, but I’m skeptical,” the aide said.
Deadline Approaching
Time is running short for the committee to conclude its deliberations. To preserve procedural protections for any bill the joint committee produces — and guard against amendments and dilatory tactics — the panel has until the day before Thanksgiving to act. But it will actually need to have specific bill language and accompanying revenue and cost estimates from congressional scoring agencies by the end of Nov. 21. The Budget Control Act (PL 112-25), which created the joint committee, requires scored legislation to be in the hands of committee members for 48 hours before they vote.
As the deadline drew closer on Tuesday, meetings continued and lawmakers fell back on familiar rhetorical formulations to describe their deliberations.
Democratic members of the joint committee met Tuesday afternoon. “I am still hopeful that a few Republicans who will put their country first will come to us with a credible offer,” said Sen.
Republican members gathered with Boehner later in what House Ways and Means Chairman
Committee members from both parties described the discussions as intense and multifaceted.
“I think we have multiple offers on the table at the moment,” said Rep.
Sen.
Leaders’ Private Meeting Highlights Deficit Talks
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Boehner acknowledged that many House Republicans have expressed concern about proposed revenue increases in the Toomey plan. Still, the Speaker said, if the committee does reach an agreement, “I’m convinced that it can in fact pass” the House.
Sam Goldfarb, Joseph J. Schatz, Alan K. Ota and Richard E. Cohen contributed to this story.