Spokane7
65°
August 10, 2011 in City
Murray on deficit panel
WASHINGTON – Sen. Patty Murray will be the co-chairwoman of a powerful “supercommittee” charged with finding more than $1 trillion in deficit cuts this fall.
The Washington Democrat was one of three named Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. He also appointed Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana to the panel.
In a prepared statement announcing the appointments, Reid said Murray’s years of experience on the Budget and Appropriations committees “have given her a depth of knowledge on budget issues and demonstrated her ability to work across party lines.”
The three issued a joint statement calling the committee’s work “long overdue to step beyond the partisanship and politics that have overwhelmed these discussions for months.”
Kerry and Baucus are two of the Senate’s most experienced legislators, Reid added. In naming the trio, the Associated Press noted he bypassed Democrats such as Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad who have been more forceful in advocating curbs on Medicare spending and Social Security benefits.
Washington state and national Republicans were quick to denounce Murray’s selection. Even before the appointments were official, but after they had leaked out from congressional sources to hit political websites, state GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur contended Murray’s selection proves Reid isn’t taking debt reduction seriously.
“Appointing Senator Murray as the co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is like asking a fox to guard a hen house,” Wilbur charged in a press release. “Sen. Murray has absolutely no history of cutting spending, ever.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Murray’s position as the leader of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the group that recruits challengers to Republicans and helps re-elect incumbent Democrats, should disqualify her.
“The select committee is no place for someone whose top priority is fundraising and politics,” Priebus said in a prepared statement, adding Reid “should immediately withdraw her appointment.”
Murray could not be immediately contacted for a response.
She was in Spokane on Tuesday visiting the Triumph Composite Systems plant on the West Plains to talk about ways to bridge “the skilled jobs deficit” that keeps companies from finding skilled workers to fill key jobs. She met later with higher education leaders and elected officials at the Riverpoint Campus.
She said more than 2,000 Spokane jobs are currently open, with many going unfilled because not enough workers with the right skills are available.
Reid is the first of four congressional leaders to name members to the 12-member panel.
Staff writers Jim Camden and Tom Sowa and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
bez233 on August 10 at 8:10 a.m.
So Murray is wanted to become part of this secret committee, the dirty dozen.
Triumph Composite Systems plant on the West Plains is part of Boeing who has had a close affair with Murray.
And where are these so-called 2000 plus jobs being advertised? I have an education and experience but nowhere to plug them into. Again where are these so-called positions? I don’t have 3 years experience in banana dipping. Are these real jobs - not temp, not PT, not FEDS, etc. -real jobs?
ManleyPointer on August 10 at 8:17 a.m.
Putting this moron on the committee demonstrates unequivocally that this is not a serious attempt to accomplish anything. Throw every one of them out of office.