It sounds like there might not be a deficit reduction deal in the Super Committee.
The leaders of a special deficit reduction panel signaled Sunday that they will fail to strike a deal to reduce the deficit before their Wednesday deadline.
Republican opposition to taxing the rich is the main obstacle, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"There is one sticking divide, and that is the issue of what I call shared sacrifice, where everybody contributes in a very challenging time for our country," Murray said. "That's the Bush tax cuts. In making sure that any kind of package includes everybody coming to the table and the wealthiest of Americans, those who earn over a million dollars every year, have to share, too. And that line in the sand, we haven't seen any Republicans willing to cross yet."
Naturally, this would be great news. The deficit and the debt have nothing to do with our current economic crisis, but austerity would certainly exacerbate the crisis. I hope they fail.