Politico to go: Things you may not know about the Super Committee

The announcement came Monday after the markets closed, just as expected the “Super Committee” whose job was to cut $1.2 trillion out of the budget failed.
“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve,” Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, co-chairs of the super committee, said in a written statement.
The truth is the committee was doomed from the start, if a divided Congress couldn’t come up with the cuts why would anyone believe that a mini-version of a divided congress would succeed?
Also expected was it took about two minutes for President Barack Obama to make divisive comments about the committee’s failure. At a press conference he said that Republicans would not budge in their defense of the tax cuts for wealthy Americans. He said Republicans are main stumbling block to reaching agreement on deficit.
The truth is that the Republican House Leadership offered as much as $640 billion in tax hikes in the negotiations (in the form of closing loopholes) the President’s comments were the continuance of his reelection strategy, carpet bomb the GOP rather than run on his record (who can really blame him). But the President is conveniently ignoring the fact that even the two most conservative members of the panel Senator Pat Toomey and Representative Jeb Hensarling offered $300 billion in net tax hikes. All of these compromises were being offered despite the fact that tax hikes always slow down the economy. And this economy cannot absorb any more slowdowns.
Why were these compromises rejected? Because the Democrats changed the rules, they insisted that the GOP come up with $1.2 trillion in increased taxes and combine it with $500 billion in cuts. You see the Democrats insisted that the Super Committee not only come up with the required funds, but enough extra cash to pay for the President’s most recent stimulus plan which was already rejected in both houses of Congress.