Super Congress Getting Even More Super Powers In Debt Deal

[sasha031]

WASHINGTON -- In order to shore up GOP support for a deal to raise the debt ceiling, Senate Democrats are exploring ways of giving the proposed "super Congress" even greater super powers, according to multiple news reports and congressional aides with knowledge of the plan.

Under the new proposal, if the new legislative body, made up of six Democrats and six Republicans from both chambers, doesn't come up with a bill that cuts at least $1.5 trillion by Thanksgiving, entitlement programs will automatically be slashed.

Under the reported framework, legislation the new congressional committee writes would be fast-tracked through Congress and could not be filibustered or amended.The parties have been negotiating the particulars of cuts that would be enacted if budget-cutting legislation coming out of the super Congress could not get passed, deciding roughly how much in cuts would come from different parts of the federal budget, including defense spending and entitlement programs like Medicare.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/31/super-congress-debt-ceiling-deficit-deal_n_914272.html

[Donnachaidh]

1. I think the ACLU should be gearingup to fight this power grab.

I don't care WHO proposed it -- it's unconstitutional.

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. If it is...

...the process by which the passage of PPACA was engineered is also unconstitutional.

Because what you're looking at isn't distinguishable from the movement of a budget through Congress under reconciliation -- no amendments, no filibuster....

I am sure you can identify the Article 1 violation in the proposal....

[Autumn]

6. Is it a power grab if it is gift wrapped and tied up

with a nice bow and given to them? I would think it would be unconstitutional. We will have to wait and see if any constitutional scholar will come out and say so.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. They will be hard-pressed...

....given the history of other such committees and processes.

[kelly1mm]

19. Do you remember BRAC? The military base closure commission?

Same thing as this, a special select committee. It is constitutional.

[Davis_X_Machina]

21. The fellow at HuffPo -- or is it PuffHo....

...should be proud of his handiwork.

[Autumn]

2. How about that. n/t

[Skink]

3. This Supercongress is a one time deal then?

[KittyWampus]

22. It's not a 'supercongress'. It's a select/special committee. Like Congress has done for over 100 yea

years.

[NC_Nurse]

4. Why have a Congress at all? Think of all the money we'll save on salaries

and benefits if we just scrap the whole thing and let the Heritage Foundation write all the new laws? (yes, this is sarcasm)

[KansDem]

9. Right! Just have the Fortune 500 each send a "representative" to a kind of "Congress"

They write the legislation, anyway (ALEC). Just eliminate the "middle man" by dissolving Congress.

Why keep up the facade?

[Autumn]

13. See, there's a good cut right there.

:thumbsup:

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. Put Grover Norquist on every ballot in the country!

(_) Check here to elect Grover Norquist (R) as the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

(_) Check here to allow one representative from every Congressional District to kick Grover Norquist (R) in the balls.



(Just imagine the campaign posters we'd see!:evilgrin:)

[ixion]

8. Situation: FUBAR

Duck and Cover.

[Lorien]

11. Indeed. This won't end well for us

or anyone except the rich. :-(

[Horse with no Name]

10. You can be assured that there will NOT be progressive representation

in that committee.

There will be teabagger, neocon, neolib, Blue Dog and other Conservadems...but there will NOT be a voice that represents us.

The "trigger" sounds an awful lot like a hostage situation.

This behind-the-scenes shit is antithetical to our Democracy and undermines it in a very serious way.

[sasha031]

18. the liberals will be people line Warren from VA

[blkmusclmachine]

12. Absolute travesty. This cannot stand.

n/t

[Altoid_Cyclist]

14. What a blatant example of what the country is going to be subjected to.

We are royally and completely screwed if this BS is brought to life.

I am so freaking glad that the chess game, poker game or whatever the hell it was worked out so well for the corporations again!

Sell outs! Get your sell outs here! Red hot sell outs here!

This was never a freaking game! It is life and death for a lot of Americans and we were told that it's just 50 level chess.

A third party is looking more attractive each day. And no...I won't consider it as a wasted vote.

[NorthCarolina]

16. That way all the Congress critters can claim that THEY wouldn't have voted to cut these programs.

Lets all be honest here. Did any of you really ever think that the entire charade we have been witness to these past weeks did not have the singleton goal of cutting entitlement spending? That is THE goal that this entire production was scripted for. And there you have it; the curtain call on a very bad play.

[Igel]

26. You're right.

Except they will have to vote one way or the other.

They'll have to vote setting up the trigger.

Then, when the committee reports back, they'll be in a bind: They either vote for the committee report or, if their vote makes the recommendation fail, they'll be stuck with their vote in setting up the triggers.

Either way, the cuts are approved by a majority of each house of Congress.

[mzmolly]

17. A gross misrepresentation of fact.

Entitlement programs will not be slashed. Ryan Grim is aptly named.

[DCBob]

20. Apparently the auto-cuts to defense is the hangup now for GOPers in the negotiations.

They are arguing over the percent of the cuts... according to little Russert.

[Drew Richards]

23. This sounds more like the Koch brothers have checkmated the government

This sounds and smells exactly like what their grandfather wanted from the John Birch society.
A Soviet style Politboro made of the wealthy that actually controls all policy...

We have now become Stalinist Russia and the Kochs are in power...

Pray for us all.

[WCGreen]

24. what the fuck are we becoming....

A DC Marvel universe...

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. Make it illegal for them to accept funds, emails, visits or phone calls from lobbyists

and sequester them like a jury, and I might consider this a positive.