Van Hollen Urges Big Reductions as Deadline Looms for 'Supercommittee'

Maryland representative is pushing for $4 trillion in cuts.

By Jeffery Benzing Capital News Service  WASHINGTON — Rep. Chris Van Hollen still wants to "go big" with the congressional "supercommittee," favoring $4 trillion in total deficit reduction over 10 years, even as he's unsure that the group can craft a plan to curtail the deficit by its Nov. 23 deadline. "This is a critical week. Everyone's going to be doubling down," said Van Hollen, who sits on the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction and is the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "I think the jury's still out as to whether we'll reach an agreement." And time is ticking away. The committee must decide how it might slash the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion with cuts to expensive programs like Medicare and …

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JH

2:06 pm on Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The growing federal deficit is at the heart of this crisis. You need a little more balance in your understanding of the matter. The Tea Party did not create the enormous deficit. While they take a position on a range of policy issues that we do not all agree with, the Tea Party is for a balanced budget and you should be too. The Dems pushed through an huge new entitlement program plus a stimulus …   more ›