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Latest picks for debt panel spark some pessimism

With nine of the committee's 12 members selected, Washington began calculating whether the faltering economy and chaotic financial markets could spur the panel to produce a bipartisan plan trimming $1.5 trillion from the government's debt over the coming decade. Failure a real possibility, considering GOP opposition to tax increases...

By Alan Fram | Updated on August 10, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans named a mix of partisans and pragmatists on Wednesday to the new congressional committee charged with striking a debt-cutting compromise. While members of both parties expressed urgency over controlling surging budget shortfalls, others were pessimistic that the bipartisan panel would overcome deep political divides.

With nine of the committee’s 12 members selected, Washington began calculating whether the faltering economy and chaotic financial markets could spur the panel to produce a bipartisan plan trimming $1.5 trillion from the government’s debt over the coming decade. Failure — a real possibility, considering GOP opposition to tax increases and Democratic hostility to cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits — would trigger automatic spending cuts in hundreds of defense and domestic programs.

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