Democrats want debt-cutting panel to address jobs

Some Democrats on the supercommittee, though, want it to go even further and address voters' angst over the nation's stubborn unemployment problem. With the government reporting that the economy essentially stopped generating jobs last month, next year's presidential and congressional elections are pressuring lawmakers to do something about it.

"It's part of recovery," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., a supercommittee member who said in a brief interview that he wanted the panel to tackle job creation. "Growth will create revenue," which would help reduce the debt.

"I'm not saying it will be easy, but it should be addressed," he said.

Another supercommittee member, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., asked whether he wanted the panel to tackle job creation, said he "may lay out that thought" at Thursday's meeting.

"I don't think you can reduce the deficit of the country to the scope that we need to without growth" of the economy, he said.

A third Democrat on the special committee, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., wrote an opinion essay this week in The Washington Post saying deficit reduction must have three components: jobs, cuts and revenue.

None of the Democrats specified what job creation program they might favor.