Conservative groups dance on the supercommittee’s grave

On Tuesday morning, leading conservative groups gathered to wish the supercommittee good riddance — and tell Congress what it should be doing next. In a subterranean conference room at the Capitol Hill Hyatt, Brent Bozell, chairman of online advocacy group ForAmerica, explained why the supercommittee’s demise was something to celebrate.

Tea Party Express Rally in Manchester, N.H. (Associated Press) “The media — ” Bozell stopped himself, perhaps recalling that only members of the press were attending the event. “Some of the media and the White House want you to believe the supercommittee ‘failed,’ but in a very real way that is untrue. The death of any negotiations that would lead to higher taxes...is a clear victory for our country.”

So what should Congress do now, in the wake of the supercommittee’s demise? The group surrounding the podium seemed to have one message to hammer home.

“Create a budget that cuts spending,” said Bozell.

“It’s time for Congress to quit spending so much money,” said Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots.

“American families are impacted by bloated government driven by out-of-control spending,” said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.

“We’ve had anemic growth, because businesses are constantly facing specter of tax increases, regulatory increases, and increased spending,” said Edwin Meese of the Heritage Foundation.

The supercommittee’s failure does mean that $1.2 trillion in spending cuts are automatically set to go into effect. But when asked whether they’d support keeping the triggered defense cuts in place, some of the same conservatives quickly changed their tune, echoing Republican protestations and vows to reverse the defense spending reductions.

“It was a disastrous and unbelievably stupid idea to go along with a provision that would cripple military during time of war,” said Bozell. “Something has to be done and done quickly. We cannot penalize military during time of war.”

“It was stupid to put military cuts of the amount that they were in the sequester idea. We cannot hollow out military,” said Meese, formerly Reagan’s Attorney General. “The cuts in military spending demanded in order to try to raise taxes is unpatriotic and contrary to the needs of the country as anything I’ve seen.”

Instead, both argued there was plenty of room for spending cuts elsewhere. Bozell suggested that there were certain Democratic sacred cows that could be given up instead. “Cut the abortion mills of Planned Parenthood...X out the absolutely unnecessary spending of PBS,” he said.

Not all of those in attendance were as enamored of the idea of reversing the triggered cuts — to the military or otherwise. “It would be hypocritical for Democrats or Republicans who cut a debt-limit deal just this past summer to then turn around and say we were just kidding about the spending side. The dollar levels have to be there,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity.

Similarly, the Tea Party Patriots slammed the trigger for having no real teeth. “Conveniently, there seem to be no consequences for failure. The reality is that they can amend or get rid of any of the ‘triggers,’ and we expect that they do so,” Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the group, said in a statement distributed at the event.

Likewise, both Americans for Prosperity and the Tea Party Patriots affirmed that it was important for Congress to extend the temporary payroll tax cut that expires at the end of the year — a Democratic priority that Republicans like Sens. Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions have balked at, arguing that a temporary fix would create more uncertainty, even if it lowered taxes.

“Extend it absolutely. Now’s not the time to be raising taxes. It’s never the time, barring a national emergency or war,” said AFP’s Phillips. “We would like to a see a broader package, frankly. But absolutely extend it.”

Martin concurred. “Same thing. Our folks do not want tax increases,” she said, adding that a broader tax overhaul would be ideal.