THE HILL: Boehner rejects Dem proposal, says it’s time ‘to get serious.’

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday rejected a proposal by the Democratic members of the congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction, declaring its $1.3 trillion in tax increases unacceptable. . . .

“This is the same number that was in the president’s budget, the same number that I don’t know if they found any Democrats in the House and Senate to vote for,” Boehner said. “And so, I don’t think it’s a reasonable number.”

The deficit panel must come up with at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings by Nov. 23 to avoid automatic spending cuts that both parties want to avoid.

Members of the panel have given little indication that they have made significant progress in their secretive negotiations, and comments Thursday by Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reflected an increasing sense of urgency about the stalemate.

On the other hand, Supercommittee members have been soaking up campaign contributions from lobbyists. So it’s not a complete failure.