Senator Mark Warner had some small hope of being named to the congressional “super committee” that is supposed to pore over the federal budget and find hundreds of billions of dollars worth of additional savings (or taxes increases, or both) in order to avoid across the board cuts. Those automatic cuts would result in a $600 billion hit to defense spending which could throttle Virginia’s defense-spending dependent economy.
Before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made his “super committee” picks, Warner characterized his chances of being picked, and the committee’s likely Democratic make-up, this way:
…he doesn’t see much chance of winning one of the three Senate Democratic seats — because he wants to tackle entitlement reform and tax reform on a much broader scope than is envisioned by the new committee.
“The fact that I’m willing to do that probably means that I’m not actually going to get on the committee,” Warner said on Fox News. “I don’t actually expect to get on the committee. … I also know that chances are that there will be enormous pressure on leadership in both parties to put members that might not be willing to be as bold.”
As Ken Falkenstein notes, Mr.Warner was passed-over for membership on the committee in favor of the odious John Kerry, Democratic Senate campaign chair Patty Murray and Finance committee chair Max Baucus.
So give Warner the credit he’s due: he knew Reid would pick those who weren’t interested in sweeping entitlement reform. If anything, the Murray choice ensures just the opposite. In addition to her charge to look after Democrats’ electoral concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal, Murray is also “a vocal supporter of Social Security and Medicare.”
In that same Journal article, we learn more about why Warner was shut out of the committee — his involvement with the “Gang of Six” — and Harry Reid’s take on entitlements:
That group irked Mr. Reid by going its own way and trying to influence matters during the recent negotiations on the debt ceiling. In addition, those senators accepted cuts to Social Security at a time when Mr. Reid was strongly rejecting such cuts.
Hope, change…not on his watch.
It’s anyone’s guess who will be named to the other spots on the “super committee,” but the snubbing of Mark Warner has made a few things clear:
* Serious entitlement reform is off the table for Democrats.
* This and taxes will likely lead to no agreement, meaning the automatic cuts of the debt ceiling could be on their way. Buckle-up, Virginia, it’s about to get bumpy.
* Warner has been given an additional reason not to make the Senate a long-term career. Terry McAuliffe, you’d best call your office.
