A highly placed Democratic source weighs in on the current state of Super Committee negotiations.
“Conversations are still happening, but its mostly about how to put this thing to bed,” the aide says.
In other words, the ongoing conversations are mainly about putting the best face on failure rather than finding actual agreement.
This will come as no surprise to anybody who’s been following the committee’s progress (or lack thereof) over the last couple weeks. And it doesn’t preclude the slim possibility that the panel will agree on at least a small package of budget cuts before Monday. Other sources say they’re holding out hope for a last minute come-to-Jesus moment (for Democrats this means Republicans agreeing to significant new tax revenues). But it’s as close to a death knell as we’ve seen so far.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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