Supercommittee Struggles to Find Deal As Clock Ticks Down to Automatic Spending Cuts

FILE 2011: Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is not a member of the supercommittee but as chairman of the House Budget Committee is a leading Republican voice on fiscal policy, said he believes something can get done by the supercommittee.

Fox News

October 10, 2011

The 12-member deficit-cutting panel established last summer to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years has until Thanksgiving to reach a proposal to maximize that goal, but observers are growing increasingly nervous about where compromise can be found. 

The battle lines remain the same -- Democrats want to raise taxes and oppose cutting entitlements, while Republicans refuse to curb tax carve-outs without a guarantee of lower tax rates overall.

The impasse has lobbyists and aides in Washington -- traditionally stuck in gridlock -- increasingly skeptical.

Set aside for the moment that additional pressures have already been put on the supercommittee to go big, and come up with something much greater than $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

And forget for a second that Washington is up to its eyeballs in investigating growing scandals like the loan to bankrupt solar power company Solyndra or Operation Fast and Furious.

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