TRINIDAD - Democratic Party activist Ron Chapman laughed this week when he was asked about Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling's claim that the "super committee" he co-chaired failed to carry out its $1.2 trillion debt reduction assignment because President Obama was unable to lead his party's congressmen to action. "If it doesn't rain tomorrow, blame it on Obama," said Chapman in a telephone interview. "If it does rain tomorrow, blame it on Obama." Chapman said it was absurd to blame Obama for the failure of a committee that was organized and given special powers to accomplish an objective. Congress appointed the members of the committee. "He wasn't on the committee," Chapman said. "He didn't have a vote. It was up to Congress to get this done." Chapman was responding to claims made in an op-ed piece authored by Hensarling, a Dallas resident who represents the Fifth Congressional District that includes Cedar Creek Lake. The congressman, who is a native of Stephenville, said the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction could not reach an agreement because Democrats wanted to raise taxes to generate more revenue instead of making cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other health-care spending that Republicans advocated. "Ultimately, the committee did not succeed because we could not bridge the gap between two dramatically competing visions of the role government should play in a free society, the proper purpose and design of the social safety net, and the fundamentals of job creation and economic growth," wrote Hensarling in the op-ed piece that was published in The Dallas Morning News and in other major newspapers across the country. The Republican congressman's vision of the government's role in protecting citizens and creating prosperity follows the mandate of conservative activist Grover Norquist, who heads Americans for Tax Reform, said Chapman, who ran unsuccessfully against Hensarling for the congressional seat in 2002. Norquist is the author of a GOP campaign pledge to never raise taxes that is championed by the Republican Party's tax-protest base. "The Republicans placed their pledge to Grover Norquist above their oath to their country," Chapman said. Democrats and Republicans are primarily divided on the issue of income taxation as regards higher-earners. Democrats contend that wealthier Americans should pay a higher tax rate while Republicans argue that would result in fewer jobs and a slower economy. The announcement that the committee was unable to reach an agreement signaled that a pre-determined spending reduction plan for $1.2 trillion will kick off January 2013. Obama has warned that he would veto any measure passed by Congress to alter that plan and urged Congress to resolve the problem. At current spending rates the federal government reportedly is set to spend $44 trillion over the next 10 years. Hensarling wrote in his op-ed piece that he would push for a full reduction plan to avoid the automatic spending reductions because anticipated defense cuts would be detrimental to the nation's security. The failure of the committee to reach an agreement comes at a time when public approval of Congress is at an all-time low. Only about 9 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll conducted in late October. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 248 points after the announcement was made about the committee's failure.