Heartland Institute Reacts to Super Committee Failure

Published November 21, 2011

The so-called “super committee,” a bipartisan panel of members of the House and Senate, announced Monday it would not reach agreement on a plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years. The deadline for an agreement, part of the federal debt ceiling deal brokered in August, is Wednesday.

The following statements from budget and tax analysts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/731-9364.


“I expected the super committee to fail. It was probably unconstitutional anyway. No super committee or gimmick of any kind can control the federal budget. We need lawmakers who are committed to controlling it. That’s all. Unfortunately, almost no one in Congress has that commitment.”

Steve Stanek
Research Fellow, Budget and Tax Policy
The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor
Budget & Tax News
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“Once again Congress has shown its members can’t agree on just about anything. If significant spending cuts, pro-growth tax reform, and entitlement reform cannot be made in the next few years then the reality of us following in Greece’s foot steps is not that outlandish.

“Cutting such an insignificant amount of money should have been a slam-dunk for the ‘super committee.” Unfortunately, politics was put ahead of taxpayers.”

John Nothdurft
Director of Government Relations
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“The federal government spends 40 percent more than it collects in revenues every year. The national debt now stands at $15 trillion. And this super committee couldn’t find a way to cut what amounts to little more than a rounding error — $120 billion a year for a decade.

“We’re to the point that annual deficits of just $300 billion or so are considered the good-old days of fiscal responsibility. Congress can’t take even meager steps to go into even deeper debt — but at a slightly slower pace. The United States government will eventually have to get its spending under control. The only question is whether it will be done responsibly, or after a grand fiscal collapse.”

Jim Lakely
Director of Communications
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/731-9364


The Heartland Institute is a 27-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Columbus, Ohio. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.