POLITICO.COM : President Barack Obama may use the supercommittee failure to frame Congress as a do-nothing institution. Obama may also have to make deep cuts to Pentagon spending that his own Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, has dubbed unacceptable

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In any case the President has now the ball in his hands. The powers of a President are not to be underestimated ( to order spending or avoid certain expenses ).

POLITICO.COM
Supercommittee fails to reach a deal
By SEUNG MIN KIM & JAKE SHERMAN
November 21, 2011


Supercommittee fails to reach a deal


Some excerpts :

The legislative fallout could also be vast. There are a bevy of major programs and tax policies that are set to expire at the end of 2012 that the committee could’ve dealt with that now will have to be handled by regular order in the House and Senate.

The Alternative Minimum Tax needs patching so it doesn’t skewer the middle-class next year. The reimbursement formula for physicians treating Medicare patients needs to be updated. And, once again, unemployment benefits are set to expire. House Republican leadership says those must not add to the debt, and that’s an argument that will be fought during the Christmas season.

For committee members, there are accusations flying. Republicans say Democrats wouldn’t reform cherished entitlement programs without massive tax hikes. Democrats say the GOP wouldn’t raise significant revenue and were unmovable on a tax pledge authored by anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist.

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