I have a confession to make. I didn’t make a mistake in a posting. But I would have.
Let me explain. When the “SuperCommittee” was announced, I was extremely skeptical. First, I was disgusted with Congress yet again abrogating its responsibilities, this time on a body of questionable Constitutionality. Further, from the outset I was certain how it would play out.
Had I been involved, I’d have counseled that it would need a supermajority to pass a plan. The committee is made up of six Democrats and six Republicans, three from each House, and for a plan to pass would require seven votes. I thought it would be wiser to make it eight or nine votes, guaranteeing that there would be genuine bipartisan support. Otherwise, I feared, the Democrats would simply peel off one Republican, pass some liberal wet dream of a plan, and declare it was done in a “bipartisan” manner — kind of like ObamaCare.
But it looks like I might have got it wrong. The Democrats, despite their best efforts, didn’t manage to seduce anyone to the Dumb Side. And the committee is being labeled a failure — we can tell because both sides are spinning and blaming the other side.
There’s still time left for me to have been right. The pressure on the Republicans on the SuperCommittee has to be astonishingly intense. I’m sure they’re being promised all kinds of deals and favors and concessions, like those offered former Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA) — ask him how well being “the only Republican to vote for ObamaCare” worked out for him.
I’ve never been a fan of the whole “throw them all out” sentiment when it comes to Congress, but I’m starting to see the appeal. I’m beginning to see that Congress has abandoned more and more and more of its duties and obligations, and maybe we need to simply get rid of them entirely and start fresh.
My biggest concern is that the worst of the worst are so secure in their seats that they will most likely survive (I’m shudder looking at you, Nancy Pelosi), and end up — by seniority and experience — having even more power and influence than they wield now.
But as I publish this, we still have 14 hours for the SuperCommittee to succeed or fail. I’m betting they’ll drop the ball on this one, too — it’s the Congressional way.
