When Congressional leaders and the White House agreed on a deal to raise the debt limit ceiling, most people were unhappy with it. Democrats hated it because the deal didn’t include tax increases. Republicans, by and large, hated it because it didn’t enact enough meaningful cuts and did nothing to reform entitlements. But there was one reason to hate the deal that drew widespread agreement on both sides of the aisle: the creation of a super committee that would be tasked with finding $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reductions by late November. The rationale for opposition to the super committee was in part that there have been more than a dozen committees, panels, and commissions to do similar things that have never born fruit. Why would this one be any different?
It won’t be, and U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a liberal firebrand and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, proved it by announcing his intention to use his appointment to the super committee to redistribute wealth.
“A leading House Democrat is hoping to use his prestigious seat on the deficit-cutting supercommittee to close the growing gully that divides the rich and the poor in America.” (Mike Lillis, “Clyburn Hopes To Use Supercommittee Post To Tackle Growing Wealth Gap,” The Hill, 8/14/11)
“Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) said the recent debate over slashing spending and reducing deficits has all but ignored the toll those cuts could exact on lower income folks, particularly in minority communities. Clyburn – the third-ranking House Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – is vowing to use his perch on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to tackle the nation's enormous wealth gap.” (Mike Lillis, “Clyburn Hopes To Use Supercommittee Post To Tackle Growing Wealth Gap,” The Hill, 8/14/11)
Now the goal of the super committee is to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, whether that be by way of additional spending cuts, entitlement and tax reform or some combination thereof. But no, that’s not Clyburn’s mission, his is to raise taxes on the “rich” and redistribute them to the poor. You can see where this commission is going and they haven’t even had their first meeting yet.
