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Did Super Committee Throw in the Towel?

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    Sen. Pat Toomey explains failure

  • Duration 5:29
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Tell -- we go and after months of negotiations the super committee throwing in the towel they're not going anywhere and admitting defeat.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers failed to reach a deal to cut the deficit by at least one point two trillion dollars.

-- right now -- super committee member and Pennsylvania senator Pat Toomey good morning to you sir.

-- -- you know I I know a lot of people -- of a super committee it was a super failure.

But I didn't you know I've been looking at the email in the last fifteen minutes and see there are a lot of people who actually support members of the Republican Party who did not came because they're the Democrats.

We're insistent on one trillion dollars worth of tax hikes.

One trillion dollars in tax hikes -- rights and would have been devastating for our economy.

You know what is the point of doing something in the committee that's gonna make our economy even worse.

And the other thing let's let's be candid here.

The problem is a spending problem in Washington with the very same tax rates we have today as recently as 2007.

We had an almost balanced budget but then President Obama was elected Democrats.

Had complete control of the government and they went on -- spending binge like we've never seen before.

We were trying to get that spending under control but the Democrats -- -- had to have a trillion dollar tax increase.

-- senator you are you supplied a plan that Dick Durbin briefly said was a breakthrough.

Where the wheels come off there was he then muzzled.

Well you know I think there was some initial interest in the plan that I offered which was to say well.

If you if yes absolutely have to come up with revenue the way to do it is by reforming our tax code.

Simplify it lower marginal rates get rid of some of the loopholes and special interest carve outs.

-- specifically explicitly avoid the big tax increase that's coming in fourteen months.

For that you shouldn't have to pay a price but if we did we'd be willing to.

And the Democrats just said now not if it's not a trillion dollars.

-- so yesterday on the show Senator John Kerry.

With here and this is before you decided that this thing would end in defeat and -- on the show he offered a new deal to you listen to this.

We will take senator to -- is 350.

Billion dollars we will except that amount of money.

We will do it slightly differently but it through -- deductions will accept his methodology of deductions.

And then we will do a combination of cuts in the other sectors that will put together one point two trillion.

Providing.

They stop insisting on the continuation of the bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

Was real proposal -- -- did you hear that and then did you guys go behind closed doors and say hey this might be another breakthrough.

I'm afraid not to not spend a lot of time of Senator Kerry over the last several months and I think he made a good faith effort to try to find a way to reach some common ground but what you just heard him say.

Was -- take a 350 billion tax increase and now and insist on an additional 800 billion dollar tax increase in fourteen months.

That adds up to a little over one point one trillion by my math and by the way.

To this day they have never given -- their proposal for the kind of structural reforms that we need to bring the entitlement programs under control so.

-- we -- we unfortunately were just never very close.

What about the present -- United States he was missing it you know after trying to get that Green and deal with songwriter a couple of months ago.

He's been -- and -- I -- in Washington DC these days if you want to get something done you've got to have the president United States involved.

And he obviously not serious about deficit reduction nor entitlement reform.

Not only that the president actively made our job more difficult he issued -- threats.

He said any touch in Obama care had to be off the table despite the fact that over.

Over time that's a multi trillion dollar.

An extraordinary of waste of money very ill conceived program.

He came in and said that we ought to in addition to all -- -- everything else we're working on we got us.

Find a way to pay for his latest 500 billion dollar stimulus spending bill the president was not help.

Well but senator -- wonder where you go from here the present system that keep the pressure -- -- minute leave those levers in place that are gonna destroy the Defense Department as well as.

Take out so well money from social programs what's next.

Well what's next is I think we certainly need to have the one point two trillion dollars and spending cuts that are eight in existing law but they need to be done in a much smarter fashion.

-- -- way too heavily weighted towards defense.

Leon Panetta the debt the president's own democratic secretary of defense has said that.

Those cuts would hollow out our defense that's not acceptable so I think you'll see over coming months we're gonna do offer proposals that would be alternatives to these -- Are you gonna do that senator because the president -- -- record yesterday saying that he was gonna veto that are you saying that if he's not re elected.

That a Republican president would then do something differently.

Well certainly I believe that's true I think a Republican president would not hollow out our defense and would.

I use some of the very readily available opportunities to save money in other areas that the Democrats reject -- on the committee but that we would propose but even before that.

I think a lot of democratic members of congress are gonna say wait a minute.

Should we really be jeopardizing our national security went instead for instance we could reduce -- subsidies.

I think that's going to be the kind of tradeoff that we're gonna present and it'll be pretty clear I think it will be able to shift some of us.

Story that Pat Toomey -- from fox newsroom right there in downtown Philly sir thank you very much for joining us on this busy news thanks for having me.

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