The Super Transparent Catfood Committee had a closed-door meeting yesterday?
The Roundup for September 28, 2011
• The Super Committee had a six-hour closed-door meeting in the Capitol yesterday.
(Emphasis added.)
Supercommittee operating in secret
The supercommittee has become supersecret about most of what it’s doing.
On Tuesday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) encapsulated the attitude of the members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee: “I don’t want to discuss what we discussed.”
(Emphasis added.)
Hold on here!
Tuesday was the second straight closed-door day for the supercommittee.
[ ... ]
Asked whether the committee was living up to the promise of transparency, Kerry said that they’re “living up to the commitment of getting the job done for the American people.” He said “some” meetings will be open, “some will not.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) ran down a set of stairs, declining to talk, saying he had to catch a flight. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) ducked reporters as he exited. Rep. Dave Camp, the Michigan Republican who chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee, left using a back exit. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) drew a crowd of reporters as he walked up a flight of stairs, sidestepping any questions about policy.
http://dyn.politico.com/...
(Emphasis added.)
Go read the article. It only gets worse.
Super Committee Holding Super Secret Meetings
Throughout the day on Tuesday, a smattering of political reporters leaned up against walls in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Center. Inside room HVC200, the 12-member supercommittee, tasked with reshaping the nation's tax code, social safety net and approach to war, was meeting in secret.
[ ... ]
Of the six significant meetings the Super Congress has held, only two have been public -- one to allow members to read prepared opening statements.
After public pressure that the panel meet in public, its rules were written to say that the meetings “shall be open to the public and the media unless the Joint Select Committee, in open session and a quorum being present, determines by majority vote that such hearing or meeting shall be held in closed session,” Roll Call noted.
What happened to this?
Super Committee Should Be Transparent, Republican Senators Say
WASHINGTON -- Six Republican senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday calling on them to support public meetings for the debt reduction "super committee."
"We ask you, as two of the appointers of the Committee, to ensure that all meetings and hearings are done in a transparent manner through advanced public notification, public attendance and live television broadcasts," the letter reads. "Meetings will include any time a quorum of members are present to discuss committee related matters whether it be in person, over the phone or via teleconference."
And this?
Pelosi Calls For Super Congress Transparency
Pelosi is the first congressional leader to call for an open and transparent super committee. She is in charge of appointing three Democratic members of the House to the committee.
This from the co-chairperson of the committee?
Murray: Supercommittee meetings should be public
In the first gathering of the deficit supercommittee Thursday, co-chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) urged full public access to all committee meetings.
"I believe the American people deserve to have full access to committee business the way they do with every committee here in Congress. I believe these rules will allow us to do exactly that," the Washington senator said in her opening statement.
(Emphasis added.)
Action
This is the most powerful committee I have ever seen in my lifetime. Maybe we should call our members of Congress tomorrow and tell them to support this:
Support Continues to Mount for Super Committee Transparency
Lisa Rosenberg Sept. 22, 2011, 2:29 p.m.
Yesterday, Representatives Loebsack, Quigley and Renacci sent a Dear Colleague to their colleagues asking them to cosponsor HR 2860, the bipartisan Deficit Committee Transparency Act, an important bill that would ensure special influence efforts to influence the vital work of the Super Committee is transparent.
Supporters of transparency should call their members of Congress and ask them to support the bill. The twelve members of the Super Committee members have super powers to decide how to cut $1.5 trillion from the federal budget. They are already under tremendous pressure from lobbyists and big donors who are asking them to spare their own special interest from the chopping block.
[ ... ]
Transparency is critical to counteract the tools special interests will use to get their way from the Super Committee, and The Deficit Committee Transparency Act is the best way to ensure transparency.
Updates
Looks like there are some other news stories coming out about the secrecy issue.
Cone of silence? Joking or not, that's not a smart thing to say.
Reuters:
RPT-As U.S. deficit panel meets, is no news good news?
"Productive meeting." "Healthy exchanges." "We're making progress" --
That's about as enlightening as it has gotten in interviews with the 12 unusually disciplined lawmakers who face a Nov. 23 deadline for sealing a deal to reduce U.S. government spending by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
"Cone of silence, cone of silence," joked one super committee staffer when approached by Reuters, referring to the sound-deadening gadget in the 1960s U.S. TV spy comedy "Get Smart," which never worked properly.