Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — The congressional committee focused on deficit reduction has begun to hum to life. On Tuesday, the panel announced it had chosen a veteran Senate Republican staff member to take the challenging job of running the bipartisan panel and its staff.
The leaders of the committee chose Mark A. Prater, the chief tax counsel for Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, to serve as staff director of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
Republican committee members met on Capitol Hill to discuss previous deficit ideas and their own plans. Committee Democrats have a conference call scheduled for today.
