The "new" Debt Committee

[MaggieMae]

$1.5 trillion in cuts would be decided by a committee of 12 lawmakers evenly divided between the two parties and two chambers. This so-called super Congress would have to present its cuts by Thanksgiving, and the rest of Congress could not amend or filibuster the recommendations.

But if the super Congress somehow failed to enact savings, the measure requires automatic cuts worth at least $1.2 trillion. Those cuts would be split equally between military and domestic programs. Social Security, Medicaid and programs for the poor would be spared, but Medicare providers -- not beneficiaries -- would take a hit.

My recommendation would be to choose the three Senate members from each party who are not up for reelection.

As for the House members, well they're always in campaign mode as their first priority, so hopefully they'll just sit down, shut up and listen as long-range fiscal fixes are discussed and developed that are good for the entire country, not just them and their districts.

 

[Mad Scientist]

This Debt Committee is totally unconstitutional.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

My recommendation would be to have the duly elected senators and representatives argue and debate this instead of some concocted elitist coveted positions. We might as well call them oracles.

The name 'super congress' is an oxymoron itself.

 

[MaggieMae]

My recommendation would be to have the duly elected senators and representatives argue and debate this instead of some concocted elitist coveted positions. We might as well call them oracles.

The name 'super congress' is an oxymoron itself.

I would prefer it be debated on the respective floors also. But they can't agree on the most mundane things, which is why the committee was formed. Yup, this is the muddled state of Congress these days. And it's being watched world-wide, with the market dropping another 500 points today. We've become the laughing stock of the world, and no one has any faith in this country's ability to end its insanity. It's tantamount to two men fighting over a woman, and they both die. Who wins? Neither man, and the woman will just move on.

 

[Avorysuds]

WTF is a super congress... So now 1 eprson on that mini congress has more power than 50 people in the house and like 10 people in the Seante?

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

As for the House members, well they're always in campaign mode as their first priority, so hopefully they'll just sit down, shut up and listen as long-range fiscal fixes are discussed and developed that are good for the entire country, not just them and their districts.

That, of course, is the proverbial rub, as that’s the House’s raison d'être and original intent.

This Debt Committee is totally unconstitutional.

In your opinion, not as a fact of law. Not all stupid ideas are un-Constitutional.

WTF is a super congress... So now 1 eprson on that mini congress has more power than 50 people in the house and like 10 people in the Seante?

No. It’s a group composing legislation, noting really new. But the proposals get an up or down vote only, no amendments in either House, no filibuster in the Senate. The proposed measures could be defeated. But that would leave the Nation at the mercy of the ‘automatic cuts.’

 

[zzzz]

It is not the Repub appointees that will decide what gets cut but the Democrats. If one Democrat sides with the Repubs on cutting Social Security then when all of it goes to the Senate Social Security gets cut. It bypasses the Senate rules and gets around the 60 votes needed to cut SS. All they would need is 51!

 

[zzzz]

As for the House members, well they're always in campaign mode as their first priority, so hopefully they'll just sit down, shut up and listen as long-range fiscal fixes are discussed and developed that are good for the entire country, not just them and their districts.

That, of course, is the proverbial rub, as that’s the House’s raison d'être and original intent.

This Debt Committee is totally unconstitutional.

In your opinion, not as a fact of law. Not all stupid ideas are un-Constitutional.

WTF is a super congress... So now 1 eprson on that mini congress has more power than 50 people in the house and like 10 people in the Seante?

No. It’s a group composing legislation, noting really new. But the proposals get an up or down vote only, no amendments in either House, no filibuster in the Senate. The proposed measures could be defeated. But that would leave the Nation at the mercy of the ‘automatic cuts.’

Composing legislation is not unconstitutional. The unconstitutional aspect really refers to the automatic cuts and the power transfer by the 2 houses to the committee. The committee cannot initiate tax law as the constitution specifically delegates that power to the house.

 

[Avorysuds]

As for the House members, well they're always in campaign mode as their first priority, so hopefully they'll just sit down, shut up and listen as long-range fiscal fixes are discussed and developed that are good for the entire country, not just them and their districts.

That, of course, is the proverbial rub, as that’s the House’s raison d'être and original intent.

This Debt Committee is totally unconstitutional.

In your opinion, not as a fact of law. Not all stupid ideas are un-Constitutional.

WTF is a super congress... So now 1 eprson on that mini congress has more power than 50 people in the house and like 10 people in the Seante?

No. It’s a group composing legislation, noting really new. But the proposals get an up or down vote only, no amendments in either House, no filibuster in the Senate. The proposed measures could be defeated. But that would leave the Nation at the mercy of the ‘automatic cuts.’

So in other words this Super Congress gets to be put together comprised of people who can come to some agreement (picked by who again) as a way to bypass the people that don't agree with their bullshit? IE the Tea Party and others I'm sure that are "problem people" in congress, you know, the minority that was put into congress by the people...

Nice.

 

[MaggieMae]

As for the House members, well they're always in campaign mode as their first priority, so hopefully they'll just sit down, shut up and listen as long-range fiscal fixes are discussed and developed that are good for the entire country, not just them and their districts.

That, of course, is the proverbial rub, as that’s the House’s raison d'être and original intent.


In your opinion, not as a fact of law. Not all stupid ideas are un-Constitutional.

WTF is a super congress... So now 1 eprson on that mini congress has more power than 50 people in the house and like 10 people in the Seante?

No. It’s a group composing legislation, noting really new. But the proposals get an up or down vote only, no amendments in either House, no filibuster in the Senate. The proposed measures could be defeated. But that would leave the Nation at the mercy of the ‘automatic cuts.’

So in other words this Super Congress gets to be put together comprised of people who can come to some agreement (picked by who again) as a way to bypass the people that don't agree with their bullshit? IE the Tea Party and others I'm sure that are "problem people" in congress, you know, the minority that was put into congress by the people...

Nice.

It's still unclear how or who will be chosen, but it seems to be the only solution to at least getting something in the fat little hands of the rest of them to pour over and debate with a minimal amount of childish bickering. I know I'm not alone when I say that Congress already wastes an enormous amount of time grandstanding and blaming and offering little of concrete value, considering they actually only put in three full days a week when in session.