Not enough time for me to write a long diary, so I will keep it short. Ryan Grim on HuffingtonPost reports that there are talks to create a new legislative body called "Super Congress" which may end up tackling the debt ceiling issue and deficit reduction debate.
Link here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
This "Super Congress," composed of members of both chambers and both parties, isn't mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers. Under a plan put forth by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his counterpart Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), legislation to lift the debt ceiling would be accompanied by the creation of a 12-member panel made up of 12 lawmakers -- six from each chamber and six from each party.
He goes on to say the following troubling words.
Legislation approved by the Super Congress -- which some on Capitol Hill are calling the "super committee" -- would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn't be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who'd have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law. A Super Congress would be less accountable than the system that exists today, and would find it easier to strip the public of popular benefits. Negotiators are currently considering cutting the mortgage deduction and tax credits for retirement savings, for instance, extremely popular policies that would be difficult to slice up using the traditional legislative process.
I am not sure about others, but I really think that this is not the right approach to dealing with this mess. While this may be Ryan Grim's interpretation of what may be going on the capitol hill, but if there is any truth in his article, then we have a problem on our hands.
1:44 PM PT: Guys - Thanks for the rec list. I really appreciate this.