U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
“The ‘supercommittee’ has concluded its work, but the debate in Washington on our long-term fiscal outlook is far from over.
“I want West Virginians to know that Congress has taken important steps this year to address our debt situation by cutting billions from the budget while still trying to protect the middle class. The Budget Control Act immediately cut $917 billion over the next decade and includes additional automatic across-the-board spending cuts of $1.2 trillion starting in 2013.
“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has told us that if we maintain these spending cuts, and avoid spending $1 trillion extending the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans, then our debt will be at a level most economists consider to be healthy by 2021. As we debate this important subject in the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to stick to my core principles.
“We must enact a tax policy that reverses the deep divide between the very rich and everyone else, protects West Virginians from harmful cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and makes sure Social Security is not jeopardized for current or future generations of retirees.”
Tri-State congressional reactions to supercommittee's failure to reach deal
U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
“There’s no question that the last few years have been hard on everyone, from the senior on a fixed income who hasn’t received a COLA, to the small-business owner who feels crushed by regulatory uncertainty, to the neighbor who wants a job but can’t find one. My question to the supercommittee is ‘how much worse are you willing to let it get?’
“Our debt is about to take over the size of our economy. Our credit rating has already been downgraded once. Fourteen million of our neighbors can’t find jobs.
“We have no choice — we cannot walk away from these challenges. Our constituents don’t care if we have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ next to our name; they want us to make the tough decisions to ensure a safer, more prosperous nation for our children and grandchildren.
“While I appreciate the supercommittee’s hard work in pursuit of a shared goal to find common-sense savings, I am extremely disappointed and frustrated in its failure. Down to the wire, we need to examine all reasonable proposals to get our economy back on track and people back to work.”
