The Super Committee's Sad Super Failure

The inability of the Congressional "Super Committee" to take even small steps toward putting the nation's fiscal House in order represents a catastrophic breakdown of leadership on Capitol Hill and in the White House, Common Cause said today.

"Our so-called leaders finally have a bipartisan achievement - they have failed together," said Bob Edgar, president of the non-partisan government watchdog group. "It's disgraceful."

With millions of Americans still out of work and struggling to hold onto their homes, Edgar said Congress should be moving to stimulate the economy in the short term while taking steps to bring down federal spending over the long haul. "And we need to revamp our tax system so that those at the top of the economic pyramid pay their fair share of our national expenses," he said.

"Sadly, while a majority of the Super Committee negotiators in both parties were willing to accept substantial spending cuts, there was no appetite among Republican members for a tax plan that would make the wealthiest Americans share in the sacrifices needed for our long term financial security," Edgar said.

"President Obama deserves credit for insisting at the outset on a balanced package of tax increases and spending cuts, but as the Super Committee's deadline to act has approached he seems - inexplicably -- to have taken a seat on the sidelines.

"It's undisputed that an overwhelming majority of Americans are ready to support tax hikes on the wealthy, AND long-term cuts in federal spending, particularly military spending," Edgar said. "With national elections less than a year away, you'd think the tide of public opinion would prod everyone involved into action. Their failure to seize this moment is a damning indictment."