GOP tax expert to lead deficit-committee staff had a hand in the landmark budget deals of 1990 and 1997 that included tax increases.
From The Wall Street Journal:
The leaders of Congress's powerful new deficit-reduction supercommittee named a Republican tax expert on Tuesday to be their staff director, and Republican members met to discuss strategy.
Those moves were among the first steps by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a new House-Senate panel that will be the center of attention in Washington as it tries to write a sweeping deficit-reduction plan by Nov. 23.
The panel's co-chairmen chose as their staff director Mark Prater, a senior aide and chief tax counsel to Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee. "Mark has a well-earned reputation for being a workhorse who members of both parties have relied on," said the committee's co-chairmen, Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas).
Part of the committee's preparation has been a review of recommendations made by other budget groups, such as the Bowles-Simpson bipartisan fiscal commission, which called for $4 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years, and the ad hoc group of leaders convened by Vice President Joe Biden earlier this year.
Some aides to committee members had expected the top staff post to be filled by someone without a party affiliation, such as a staffer from the Congressional Budget Office or Congressional Research Service. The Republican senators Mr. Prater works for on the Finance Committee have strongly opposed Democratic demands that any deficit-reduction deal include tax increases.
But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) said, "Mark has a proven track record of putting partisanship aside and reaching across the aisle to find balanced solutions—and that's exactly what this Joint Committee needs."
Mr. Prater's expertise in tax policy will come in handy if, as many in both parties hope, the panel considers including a framework for overhauling the tax code or closing loopholes. As a senior Finance Committee aide for more than 20 years, he had a hand in the landmark budget deals of 1990 and 1997 that included tax increases.
The leaders of Congress's powerful new deficit-reduction supercommittee named a Republican tax expert on Tuesday to be their staff director, and Republican members met to discuss strategy.
Those moves were among the first steps by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a new House-Senate panel that will be the center of attention in Washington as it tries to write a sweeping deficit-reduction plan by Nov. 23.
The panel's co-chairmen chose as their staff director Mark Prater, a senior aide and chief tax counsel to Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee. "Mark has a well-earned reputation for being a workhorse who members of both parties have relied on," said the committee's co-chairmen, Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas).
Part of the committee's preparation has been a review of recommendations made by other budget groups, such as the Bowles-Simpson bipartisan fiscal commission, which called for $4 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years, and the ad hoc group of leaders convened by Vice President Joe Biden earlier this year.
Some aides to committee members had expected the top staff post to be filled by someone without a party affiliation, such as a staffer from the Congressional Budget Office or Congressional Research Service. The Republican senators Mr. Prater works for on the Finance Committee have strongly opposed Democratic demands that any deficit-reduction deal include tax increases.
But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) said, "Mark has a proven track record of putting partisanship aside and reaching across the aisle to find balanced solutions—and that's exactly what this Joint Committee needs."
Mr. Prater's expertise in tax policy will come in handy if, as many in both parties hope, the panel considers including a framework for overhauling the tax code or closing loopholes. As a senior Finance Committee aide for more than 20 years, he had a hand in the landmark budget deals of 1990 and 1997 that included tax increases.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 6:02 AM
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