How Liberal Spending Intransigence Sank the Super Committee: A Timeline

Earlier today Think Progress mapped out a timeline of why the Super Committee sank, below we set them straight. 

The notion that both sides share in the blame is an easy line for commentators to repeat, but it isn’t true. Time and time again, the only thing preventing an agreement on long-term deficit reduction has been the Liberals’ absolute refusal to accept that this is a spending problem. 

February 1, 2010: President Barack Obama submits budget for 2011 which doubles the debt in 5 years.

February 18, 2010: President Barack Obama establishes a fiscal commission.

March 23, 2010: President Barack Obama signs into law health legislation that creates two new entitlements, raises over $490 billion in taxes and spends $2.6 trillion.

January 25, 2011 President Barack Obama ignores fiscal commission in the State of the Union .

February 14, 2011: President Barack Obama submits budget for 2012 which gives each newborn in 2015 $38,000 in debt. 

April 15, 2011: House passes Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget, which would balance the budget by 2040.

May 5, 2011: Vice President Joe Biden begins debt talks.

May 11, 2011: Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) says he will not raise debt limit without spending cuts that match how much the limit is raised. President Obama later agrees that this is the best course.

May 25, 2011: The Senate rejects President Obama’s budget, 97-0.

June 23, 2011: Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) walks away from debt ceiling talks with Biden, realizing we can’t tax our way to prosperity. The administration had offered $400 billion in taxes.

July 7, 2011: Obama and Boehner begin debt-ceiling negotiations.

July 9, 2011: Obama undermines the “grand bargain,” changing the terms of the agreement without consulting Boehner.

July 19, 2011: The Gang of Six proposes a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan, including $2 trillion in revenue.

July 22, 2011: Again, Obama refuses to address the core problem, spending, and proposes $1.2 trillion in revenues.

July 31, 2011: Debt ceiling agreement is reached, cutting $1 trillion in spending immediately and establishing the super committee to reduce deficits by at least an additional $1.2 trillion.

October 26, 2011: Democrats first super committee offer tries once more to tax our way to prosperity with $1.3 trillion in revenues.  Republicans immediately reject it. Republicans’ first super committee offer is $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction, which includes no new tax revenues.

November 8, 2011: Republicans’ second super committee offer is $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.

November 10, 2011: Democrats’ refuse to acknowledge our spending problem and propose asecond offer is $2.3 trillion in deficit reduction, consisting of $1.3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue.

November 11, 2011: Democrats put party before politics and refuse to accept Republican compromises leading to the super committee failure.

November 16, 2011: Obama runs up the debt to $15,000,000,000,000.