US Congress’ super committee fails to reach deal on deficit cuts Tuesday, 22 November 2011 09:19

WASHINGTON: Leaders of the Congressional committee charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions conceded on Monday that panel members had failed, setting up what is likely to be a yearlong political fight over the automatic cuts to a broad range of military and domestic programs that would go into effect starting in 2013 as a result of their inability to reach a deal.

Speaking an hour after the committee’s failure was announced by its leaders in a statement, President Obama promised to veto any legislation that seeks to avoid the automatic cuts, reported the New York Times Tuesday.

The president also pledged that "one way or another" the deficit would be trimmed by at least $2.2 trillion, the only question being whether it was with a "scalpel, not a hatchet."

His reference to $2.2 trillion includes $1 trillion in savings that both parties agreed to in August.

The panel’s demise followed more than 10 weeks of bitter partisan division that seemed to seal the image of Congress, and all of Washington, as a place where nothing can be accomplished, even when the consequences of failure are clearly visible to the American people and abhorrent to both political parties, said the newspaper.

The statement left open the possibility of a new stage of negotiations in the full Congress, where lawmakers will try to hammer out an agreement on a tax overhaul, changes to entitlement programs and new revenues as a way to avoid automatic across-the-board cuts over 10 years. (QNA)