And Now… ‘Super Congress’

July 24th, 2011

You’ll love this.

Via: Huffington Post:

Debt ceiling negotiators think they’ve hit on a solution to address the debt ceiling impasse and the public’s unwillingness to let go of benefits such as Medicare and Social Security that have been earned over a lifetime of work: Create a new Congress.

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.

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.

4 Responses to “And Now… ‘Super Congress’”

  1. Miraculix says:

    Unf**kingbelievable.

    And so begins the illustrious history of the Supreme Council of the USSA.

    Republocrat meets Demican in an orgy of bi-partisan support for the global corporate agenda.

    Will this august body be elected or “chosen”?

    (…it’s not like it actually makes much difference, just being curious out loud…)

    I know I’m in the minority amongst my dystopian peers, but I don’t see a large-scale systemic “crash” on the horizon at all.

    I sense the murder and mayhem being pushed to the periphery in predictable ways. Urban hubs will fortify and man-up for future battles against the “terrorists” outside the great perimeter walls that will rise around the most important enclaves in the filthy lucre business.

    The next great round of WPA-style “public” works will greatly resemble the building of Germany’s West Wall in the 1930’s & 40’s and it’s counterpart in Berlin just a few years later.

    “Plus ca change, plus ce la meme chose”… the more things change…

  2. bloodnok says:

    pfff… this has nothing on “Urgency”. Lightweights.

  3. The Beast grows another head.

  4. This would probably be a good time to re-re-re-read Neal Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash’.

    In the morning…

    -Drunk Economist

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