As early as Nov. 7, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer predicted the Congressional committee tasked with reducing the nation”™s deficit would fail.
“I don”™t think the super committee is going to succeed because our Republican colleagues have said ”˜no net revenues,”™” Schumer, D-NY, said on MSNBC”™s “Morning Joe” ”“ a comment he denied having made when questioned by reporters later that day.
With Schumer and numerous other members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives publicly airing their doubts about the committee”™s ability to compromise on steps to reduce the national deficit, it came as no surprise to the majority of Americans who were polled last week that the committee did, in fact, fail.
And while local business leaders say it is still too early to determine the exact repercussions of the committee”™s failure, there was consensus this new setback represents yet another blow to companies hoping for a positive sign that Congress had embraced their cause.
Instead of providing answers, Congress told businesses they are more concerned about getting re-elected than about creating a more positive business environment, said Westchester County Association President William M. Mooney.
“It”™s a total lack of leadership that”™s taking place in this nation,” Mooney said. “It seems that whether you talk about it at the higher level or on the local level, nobody is acting in the public interest. They”™re so busy trying to get re-elected and appealing to their own constituency that the public interest is lost and as a result of it people are getting angrier and angrier.”
No proposals for a common solution
According to a national McClatchy-Marist Poll released Nov. 18 ”“ five days prior to the committee”™s self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement or accept defeat ”“ a whopping 85 percent of registered voters responded that they were not very confident or not confident at all that an agreement would be reached.
In the days since the committee announced its failure to reach an accord, several politicians who represent the communities of Westchester County in Congress expressed to the Business Journal their disappointment but offered no original proposals that would lend themselves to a common solution between Democrats and Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth (R, NY-19) echoed what has been the standard Republican Party line, blaming President Barack Obama for the committee”™s failure and suggesting that the first step for addressing the deficit should be the repealing of the Affordable Care Act.
From across the aisle, U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-18th District, repeated her party”™s concern that Medicare and Social Security benefits be protected from cuts, saying it is time to go back to the drawing board in search of a comprehensive, long-term deficit reduction plan.
Both Lowey and Hayworth voted to pass the Budget Control Act of 2011 last August, which effectively created the so-called super committee.
The failure of the committee reflects the broken nature of Congress, said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, in an email. While she voted against the Budget Control Act, she said she still held out hope the committee could “put ideology aside and create a balanced approach to deficit reduction” but would offer no details of her plans to stimulate the economy and create jobs.
Neither Schumer ”“ who voted for the Budget Control Act ”“ nor U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-17th District ”“ who voted against it ”“ responded to repeated requests for comment for this report.
For business, ”˜rough times ahead”™
Michael J. Schiliro is vice president and director of small-business and commercial lending at Community Mutual Savings Bank in White Plains. When asked for his take on the super committee”™s failure, he said the bigger concern is one of perception.
“In the short term it”™s not necessarily going to cause a big impact financially but it”™s more of a perception,” he said. “If business owners still have a sense of uncertainty with respect to the economy and with respect to taxes, they may be cautious about how they look to invest in expanding and hiring more people.”
At Lexco Wealth Management in Tarrytown, President and CEO Christopher P. Jordan echoed Schiliro”™s concerns, adding that consumers will also be more hesitant to spend as a result of doubts created by the committee”™s failure.
Jordan also said if issues like the alternative minimum tax, extended unemployment benefits and the payroll tax ”“ which the committee had been discussing as part of its negotiations ”“ aren”™t dealt with, businesses and their employees could feel the financial impacts much sooner than 2013, when the prescribed $1.2 trillion “automatic trigger” federal spending cuts take effect.
“The end result for businesses in and around Westchester is there are going to be some rough times ahead,” he said.
