Reflex: October 4, 2011

Supercommittee grand bargain unlikely, report Manu Raju and John Bresnahan (Politico). “Senate Republicans are telling K Street that they don’t believe the powerful deficit-cutting panel can reach a ‘grand bargain’ agreement. […T]he only way that a grand bargain could pass muster with the GOP […] is if it were tied to an overhaul of Social Security or the controversial proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to turn Medicare into a voucher-based system for future recipients.” Austin’s comment: This is relatively unsurprising. Be prepared for little to nothing to come of the supercommittee. The next question is, will Congress allow the triggered cuts to go into effect? But, before that, we have a full campaign season of debate over the debt and the future of entitlements to look forward to.