Supercommittee members must begin work immediately

The financial unrest and subsequent Wall Street roller coaster created when intransigent Republicans and Democrats failed the American people was a preview of what we can expect if the supercommittee fails to reach consensus on a debt reduction package of at least $1.2 trillion, triggering abrupt and irresponsible across the board cuts to federal programs. 



{mosads}Economic decisions of this magnitude will require sacrifice from both sides. With divisive partisan politics in Washington at an all-time high and compromise viewed as a four-letter word, it is going to take time and sincere bipartisan cooperation for the members of the committee to put everything on the table and make the tough but necessary choices to restore our fiscal sanity.

When the Bowles-Simpson Commission was tapped with finding bipartisan budgetary solutions, it took nearly 220 days (that’s about the length of an NBA season) for the group to produce a final proposal. Lauded, praised, and eventually failing to gain support, the Bowles-Simpson plan put everything on the table including entitlement cuts and tax revenues. The Joint Committee members have a challenge equal to, if not more difficult, than the Bowles-Simpson Commission, but only half the time to accomplish it. With less than 14 weeks until the federally mandated November 23rd deadline arrives, members of the supercommittee must put aside their labels and not waste any time.



According to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll, six in 10 Americans say members of the new bipartisan supercommittee should compromise, even if the agreement reached is one they personally disagree with (Gallup, 8/10/11). This includes a majority of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. Outside of grandmothers and apple pie, members of both parties rarely support anything to this extent. This level of willingness to put everything on the table shows that overwhelmingly, the American people support the No Labels position of bipartisan cooperation in the interest of common sense solutions. It is now time for our elected officials to listen, lead, and act.  

August recess should end for members of the supercommittee. Handpicked by congressional leadership, these individuals have too much on their plate and too much is at stake. Their constituents have spoken. Now is the time for the members of the supercommittee to come back to Washington, back to the table, and put everything on the table. Voters expect the interest of our nation to come before party politics and we can’t afford for Washington to fail us again.

Jonathan Miller is a No Labels co-founder and a former two-term elected Kentucky State Treasurer.