Supercommittee Failure Equals K Street Success

The failure of the congressional supercommittee to reach an agreement on cutting the budget deficit may be bad for the country. But it’s good for lobbyists, The Hill reports.

That’s because the automatic spending cuts triggered by the failure don’t take effect until 2013, giving lobbyists plenty of time to try molding the cuts.

In addition, the supercommittee collapse means that several budget programs due to expire at the end of the year will be considered separately, rather than as part of a deficit reduction package. That will give lobbyists more room to work on those areas, including extension of unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut.

“It all comes down to a pretty active December,” Kenneth Kies, managing director for Federal Policy Group, told The Hill.