So when Republicans agreed to the Super Committee, and agreed that if the committee couldn't reach an accord there would be automatic cuts to domestic programs and defense programs, they didn't mean it. The GOP agreed to the Super Committee as a kind of bluff. They never intended to let the committee cut defense spending or raise taxes (either by design or by default). They simply wanted to see if they could get the Democrats to cave during the negotiations, and since the didn't cave, the GOP is pulling out of both deals (both the committee negotiations and the automatic-cuts). From CBS News:
[T]he same legislators who concocted that budgetary booby trap just four months ago could end up spending the 2012 election year and beyond battling over defusing it.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., say they are writing legislation to prevent what they say would be devastating cuts to the military. House Republicans are exploring a similar move. Democrats maintain they won't let domestic programs be the sole source of savings.
