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Senator Lindsey Graham went 'On the Record' with Greta van Susteren where he discussed the importance of creating a joint-select committee to investigate the Benghazi, Libya attack.....

Rather than risk stark failure, the congressional panel could decide now on only the outline of a deal, deferring the tougher calls until after the 2012 election. Some Republican leaders believe the White House would prefer to see the committee fail so that Obama could continue to run against a "do-nothing Congress." "It does raise your suspicion," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. "If the joint committee succeeds, it steps on the story line that they've been peddling, which is that you can't do anything with the Republicans in Congress." Democrats have their own suspicions — that...

They’ve only met once, but Sen. Jon Kyl is already threatening to quit the deficit busting supercommittee if the panel pushes more defense cuts. “I’m off the committee” if there are deeper cuts to the military, Kyl warned at a forum sponsored by several conservative think tanks, including AEI, the Foreign Policy Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. ...Kyl and others are also deeply worried about the so-called “trigger” in the debt-limit law passed last month. If the supercommittee fails to reach between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, there will be automatic cuts in defense spending and Medicare....

Whatever you think of Standard and Poor’s decision to downgrade America’s credit, their justification was fairly plain. Political gridlock has managed to scuttle several successive efforts to get a handle on the federal debt. And few, if anyone, is sanguine that the new “supercommittee” in Congress will have any better luck. But a closer look reveals that, despite the nation’s pessimism, there are several reasons to believe that the 12-member supercommittee may be able to implement a plan that sets the nation back on track. The setup has been rigged to force a deal. So, in an age where “shorting”...

Aug. 20, 2011, 2:50 p.m. EDT ‘Super committee’ Republican: Simplify taxes More spending ‘very bad idea,’ tea-party favorite Sen. Toomey says By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The 12-member “super committee” tasked with cutting the U.S. budget deficit has a “great opportunity” to simplify the tax code, Sen. Pat Toomey says. What it won’t do, if the Pennsylvania Republican gets his way, is spend any government money in an attempt to boost economic growth. Spending, the former Club for Growth president said in a phone interview with MarketWatch, is “an artificial way that the government tries to conjure up...

Who's been cozying up to the members of the new Congressional super committee? With the committee set to decide on a whopping $1.5 trillion in federal deficit reduction this fall, lobbyists and corporations are trying to figure out which industries are best connected to the 12 members of the new panel. You can bet that those connections will be pressed to the limit in coming months as companies and sectors scramble to ensure that federal spending they like and tax breaks they depend on aren't slated for elimination. As it looks at the new committee members, Wall Street may like...

Together We Can Beat the Deficit We did it in the 1990s and we can do it again today. By PATTY MURRAY, MAX BAUCUS AND JOHN KERRY Our country has long been a beacon of light in the world because the American people always come together when times are tough. Over the past few months, in debating the debt ceiling and deficit reduction, that light of common cause has appeared to flicker at times in our nation's capital. As appointees to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—12 members of Congress charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over...

President Barack Obama is eyeing a 2012 campaign modeled on President Harry Truman’s 1948 successful re-election campaign against Congress. First, however, the White House will send to Capitol Hill an assortment of ‘economy-boosting’ legislation in a package that may include a major overhaul of the tax code. “I’ll be putting forward, when they come back in September, a very specific plan to boost the economy, to create jobs, and to control our deficit,” Obama told a friendly audience at a Decorah, Minnesota campaign-event on Monday. “My attitude is, get it done … [but] if they don’t get it done, then...

Some Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, have become the subject of criticism, but their appointments were only finalized Thursday. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, and Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina and Xavier Becerra of California are already being targeted for circumstances that could compromise their abilities to negotiate. Becerra, for example, wasted no time before using his appointment as a fundraising tool for his own campaign.

Rep. Xavier Becerra — or, to be more precise, lobbyists working on his behalf — wasted no time Thursday capitalizing on the California congressman’s appointment to the congressional super committee. A little over two hours after Becerra was named to the powerful panel, Investment Company Institute’s Jim Hart sent out an email encouraging attendance for the trade group’s upcoming $1,500 per person fundraiser based on Becerra’s new found status as one of the elite 12. “We will host an event for Congressman Xavier Becerra, not only Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus but also who has just been named to...

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the top donors to election campaigns for the 12 members of the U.S. Congress named to a deficit-fighting "super committee." Known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the panel is expected to be the most heavily lobbied body in Washington ahead of its Nov. 23 deadline for making recommendations on $1.5 trillion in additional budget savings. Unless specified, donations below combine members' campaign committees and leadership PACs (political action committees). Data is from www.opensecrets.org. SENATE DEMOCRATS Patty Murray of Washington state * Software giant Microsoft Corp...

The 12 lawmakers appointed to a new congressional supercommittee charged with tackling the nation's fiscal problems have received millions in contributions from special interests with a direct stake in potential cuts to federal programs, an Associated Press review of federal campaign data has found. The newly appointed members — six Democrats and six Republicans — have received more than $3 million total during the past five years in donations from political committees with ties to defense contractors, health care providers and labor unions. That money went to their re-election campaigns, according to AP's review. Supporters say the lawmakers were picked...

Key Republican on New Deficit Panel, Rep. Dave Camp, Won't Rule Out Tax Increases CNBC.com breaking headline

Speaker Boehner Announces Appointments to Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction Washington (Aug 10) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today announced his intent to appoint the following three lawmakers to represent House Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction: House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Speaker Boehner has tapped Chairman Hensarling to serve as a co-chair of the joint select committee. Boehner issued the following statement regarding the appointments of Chairmen Hensarling, Camp, and Upton: “Our debt and deficits...

LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday announced his appointments to the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction tasked with reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion more than the cuts already identified in the Budget Control Act. McConnell appointed Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). “Chronic joblessness, out-of-control deficits and debt, and an unprecedented credit downgrade represent an historic challenge but also an historic opportunity for lawmakers in Washington to show they can work together on a plan that puts America back on the path to prosperity. All three of these...

n the first of what will be a closely watched selection process for a powerful new deficit panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and John Kerry (Mass.) as his three choices for a super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in spending cuts by the end of this year. Murray will serve as co-chair of the 12-member panel. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will select her co-chair and two other panelists, as required by the debt limit agreement signed into law by President Barack Obama last week....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday he's naming Sen. Patty Murray to co-chair a powerful "super committee" charged with finding more than $1 trillion in deficit cuts this fall. Murray will be joined by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., on the panel, which was established last week by hard-fought legislation to increase the national debt.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday he's naming Sen. Patty Murray to co-chair a powerful "super committee" charged with finding more than $1 trillion in deficit cuts this fall. Murray will be joined by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., on the panel, which was established last week by hard-fought legislation to increase the national debt. Murray, who is chairwoman of the committee to elect Democratic senators, is a longtime protector of Democratic priorities such as Medicare, Social Security and veterans' benefits, as are Kerry and Baucus. Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement that Murray has "a...

From page 3: For McConnell, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) is widely expected to get the nod, given his conservative credentials, ties to McConnell and his work in the Biden group. But if Republicans stay united, they’d need one additional Democrat to break ranks and back a cuts-only approach - so McConnell may want to choose a senator with bipartisan appeal who is loyal to leadership, like either Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) or Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). At a townhall in Winchester, Ky. on Monday, McConnell told a crowd that he wanted “significant entitlement reform” to be part of...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Max Baucus of Montana, and John Kerry of Massachusetts to the new super committee tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction by November 23, according to a senior Democratic aide familiar with Reid’s decision, which is expected to be made public as early as Wednesday. Additionally, Murray is expected to co-chair the committee, officially named the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, along with a still unnamed House Republican. A spokesman for Reid did not respond to a request for comment. Reid’s decision to...