WASHINGTON — Forty House Republicans joined 60 Democrats on Wednesday in pressing Congress’ special debt-reduction committee to consider all options, including higher revenues, and shoot for $4 trillion in savings.
Their letter puts about one- sixth of House GOP lawmakers on record as saying the super committee should consider collecting more taxes to help shrink the enormous national debt, now at $14.8 trillion. Most Republicans have strongly opposed raising revenues to address the problem.
“To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,” according to the letter.
Progress hard to see
With its deadline three weeks away, the evenly divided, 12-member committee has shown few signs of progress. Democrats have demanded higher taxes as their price for accepting significant savings from benefit programs such as Medicare, but they have been rebuffed by Republicans who oppose tax increases.
The letter urges the panel to aim well beyond its official goal of finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade.
“We know from other bipartisan frameworks that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s fiscal well-being,” the letter says.
Bipartisan budget experts with proposals for reducing the debt have urged the committee to produce at least $4 trillion in savings. They say doing less would not significantly alter the long-term financial nightmare the government faces, in which federal red ink continues growing at a faster rate than the U.S. economy.
The list of those who signed the letter shows many moderates from both parties. But it also includes conservatives such as presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and liberals such as Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who heads the Congressional Black Caucus.
Others who signed include Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democratic leader, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., one of the 87 House freshmen. Reps. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, organized the letter.
Colorado Democrats who signed the letter include Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis.
“We know that many in Washington and around the country do not believe we in the Congress and those within your committee can successfully meet this challenge. We believe that we can and we must,” the letter says.
Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R- Wyo., a signer who has had Tea Party support, said she doesn’t want to raise taxes but that “this is not an ideal world.” She said the national debt is a problem created by Republicans and Democrats, and both parties must solve it.
If Congress doesn’t approve a plan by Dec. 23, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts would start taking effect in 2013.
Also Wednesday, a top House Democrat said the committee could seek an extension if it was unable to meet its Nov. 23 deadline, The New York Times reported.
With no visible signs of progress, six of the 12 committee members have begun meeting privately in hopes of overcoming what appears to be the biggest obstacle to agreement: a deadlock over whether tax increases should be part of a deficit-reduction deal.
Move the deadline?
Hoyer said in response to a question that members of the committee could not unilaterally extend the Nov. 23 deadline for their final recommendations but could ask the full Congress to do so.
In seeking an extension of the deadline, the panel would not have to admit failure but could tell congressional leaders that it was making progress and needed more time. The prospect of progress could avert the consequences of a failure, which could include a further downgrade of the United States government’s credit rating.
