Kyl To Super Committee: Leave The Pentagon Alone!

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It’s only had one public hearing so far, but already the so-called Super Committee seems to be causing headaches for its members.

Shortly after the committee’s first gathering, held Thursday morning, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) headed to a forum hosted by conservative think tanks and said he’d be “off the committee” if it wound up advocating further cuts to military spending.

Of course, Kyl is in a bit of a bind. Let’s say that as many predict the committee is indeed unable to agree, or that it somehow moves towards a defense-cutting consensus that prompts him to walk away and possibly scupper the process. Well, that would prompt the very “trigger” the committee was designed to stave off: across-the-board cuts of around 2 percent that would hit almost all government programs, including defense.

The 12-person panel is tasked with finding ways of trimming $1.5 trillion off the national deficit over 10 years in order to avoid this “trigger.” And it’s basically got to find those savings by Thanksgiving. On the one hand, pressure groups that Democrats respond to are demanding red lines over programs like Social Security and Medicare. On the other hand, influence groups who draw a lot of water with traditional Republicans are keen to see things like defense spending ring-fenced. The process is bringing together some unusual allies, for instance, Pentagon Chief Leon Panetta — an Obama appointee — pretty much sees eye to eye with Kyl. Meanwhile, the tea partying sections of the GOP seem far more relaxed about military cuts.

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