Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over reaching an agreement to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit, but members from both parties of the debt supercommittee work through the weekend to meet the November 23rd deadline.
“Last night members of the Joint Select Committee, Republicans and Democrats, gathered yet again to negotiate, to talk about new ideas,” Texas Republican co-chair of the Joint Select Committee Jeb Hensarling said in a news conference Friday. “Today, members of the Joint Select Committee, Republicans and Democrats will again gather to try to find common ground. If an agreement is not reached today, members of the Joint Select Committee, Democrats and Republicans, will meet through the weekend,” Hensarling added.
Hensarling is among the majority of Republicans that support Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) plan for debt reduction, which includes an extension of the Bush era tax rates that expire in 2012, and $25o billion in new revenue from entitlements. The Democrats are focused on tax increases, but they are considering Toomey’s plan with a few tweaks.
“We have made it clear that we are willing to meet their offer but it has to be in a way that is fair to working families and puts our country back to work,” Democratic supercommittee co-chair Sen. Patty Murray told reporters prior to her meeting with fellow supercommittee Democrats. “That’s the task that we have at hand. I would hope that that is a way for them to understand that they need to compromise, too, and come back to us and reach a deal, which is critically important today. But I think the challenge is that they have to resolve the differences on their side, on revenue,” Murray added.
The supercommittee will meet again Friday to try to strike a deal. “We are painfully, painfully aware of the deadline that is staring us in the face,” Hensarling said of the looming Wednesday deadline. “Clearly when we have something more to report, we will report,” the Texas Rep. added.
