Assuming this debt ceiling bill actually passes, the next freak-out is going to be over the composition of the 12-member SuperCommittee that will be making recommendations for an additional $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. Now, the obvious choices on the Democratic side are the chairmen and ranking members of the Budget Committees, the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, plus someone from the leadership of both houses. That’s basically what went down with the Bowles-Simpson commission, although it had 18 members instead of twelve. In any case, here’s a likely lineup for the Super Committee:
Democrats
Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI)- ranking member of Way & Means
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)- ranking member of the Budget Committee
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)- Minority Whip [or Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA)- Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus]
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)- Chairman of the Finance Committee
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)- Chairman of the Budget Committee
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)- Majority Leader Whip of the Senate
Republicans
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)- chairman of Ways & Means
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)- chairman of the Budget Committee
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)- Majority Leader of the House
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)- ranking member of the Budget Committee
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)- ranking member of the Finance Committee
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)- Minority Whip
That’s not a very encouraging line-up, is it? That’s why we should start asking for someone from the Progressive Caucus to sit on this committee.
Xavier Becerra is in the Progressive Caucus.
Clyburn probably is, too. But the more the merrier.
Yes, vote your fears by all means.
How does the SuperCommittee make recommendations? A plain majority, so no matter what the composition of the Democratic side, it’s a compromise between the most conservative Democrat and the most conservative Republican? Are more than seven votes required to make an official recommendation?
All it takes is for Max or Kent to vote with the Pukes .. and the recommendations go for a full vote
link to the rules of the super committee?
Why? Aren’t Clyburn and Levin not liberal enough? These are all blue dogs now?
Seven-vote majority — GOP + 1
Seven vote majority
GOP + 1 quisling carries the day
Baucus and Conrad. Oh. Boy.
Ryan, Cantor, and Sessions. Blech.
Anyone from the Republican side is an automatic thumbs down.
Has Harry Reid resigned?
Dick Durbin, Majority Leader of the Senate?
He also lists Cantor as “Majority Leader of the House.” Did I miss something?
Conrad + GOP = blank check
So we’re back to whether the Senate can stop a shit sandwich again?
I better start readying my tent and my bankruptcy papers.
Conrad is a SS hardliner.
The GOP will walk away again…only after all their priorities are included in the cuts.
Committee heads are the very last people you want on such a commission. Their loyalties, even by the standard of our pretend-democracy, are to everyone but the voters. Baucus and Conrad will torpedo all things good that might be proposed. The dreary soap opera to come will make The Sickness Unto Death take on a whole new relevance. I want a new country so bad.
If punks Cantor and Ryan are on the GOP side than the Democrats rightly should have a few bomb throwing “children” too.
We don’t have any Dems who would balance the Ass Twins on the left side. Sanders and Kucinich would come close, but to really set up an equivalency we’d have to channel Chairman Mao and Lenin.
It’s catfood time again, folks. Are you a Purina man or a Friskies fella?
The only sane Republican in your list is Orrin Hatch. I’m not a fan of his but he’s the only one grounded in reality. And he could lose his seat for not being crazy enough.
No, he WILL lose his seat.
That seems likely, but not assured.
And I just love having discussions with those who start their response with “No.” Think about that.
Not sure what it is I’m supposed to be thinking about. I wasn’t trying to be rude to you or anything, I’m just saying, Hatch will be gone:
Mike Lee: Hatch not getting my endorsement
He already has a challenger, and Freedom Works will not endorse him
Last, the way they determine the nominee in Utah differs than elsewhere. The State Convention will throw Hatch under the bus. And he will especially do everything he can to avoid being thrown there, and will become more conservative than he is now.
Okay I accept that you were not trying to be rude. Just watch they way you word things and use CAPS.
Right now, things have changed a little bit. We have just witnessed a hostage crisis and many of us are probably regretting putting the terrorists (Teabaggers) in office. The good Mormon people of Utah may have – or may not have learned a lesson from this.
These folks are not rabid conservatives. They may be swayed to the Right by the church, but right now they probably feel like most of us do, sort of sick to our stomachs. These are kind, decent people and they know that Orrin Hatch has respectfully served their interests for many years. I would not be surprised if they reject the Terrorist Tea Party after this incident and re-elect their trustworthy public servant, Orrin Hatch.
I apologize if I came off as rude to you. Would bold letters have been better than caps? I didn’t mean it to sound like I was yelling at you, just meant to imply emphasis.
Perhaps you’re right. Utah does doll out moderate Republican governors (beyond Huntsman). We’ll see.
You may be right. He could be replaced. But, honestly, I hope he isn’t. If he is replaced by the people of Utah, it will be with someone like Rand Paul. I can understand and deal with someone like Orrin Hatch. He is, at heart, a truly decent man. He just sees things a little differently. I can accept that.
I just can’t forget him offering genuine tears and testimony at his good friend’s funeral, Ted Kennedy. He’s the real deal. I don’t agree with him politically, but I’d sure rather have him representing me than some of the phony assholes that actually are representing me now.
HAHAHAHAHA Orrin Hatch a sane Repukeliscum.
That just goes to show where we were, and where we are today. If Orrin Hatch is sane, reality is insane.
You and I may hate the guy. Okay, I get that.
But you can’t say that he is insane like the Tebaggers.
He is a good man who is serving his constituents well. I don’t agree with his politics and maybe you don’t either. That’s fine. But he is a stable man who actually is aware of different points of view. He has a fair understanding of history and science and he tries to do his best to represent the interests of his (mostly Mormon) constituency.
Don’t be an asshole, dude. I know that you are not. You are a good person who happens to be very mad about a political outcome. But Orrin Hatch is a decent man who deserves just a little respect, even though you (and I) don”t agree with his politics.
And he is not a Teabagger. Please direct your venom where it will have the desired impact. Senator Hatch deserves a little more respect.
If he is replaced, it will be by a Monster Teabagger who has absolutely ZERO sense of reality. It will be a very bad thing. Don’t wish for that, please.
Barack Obama – The President of the United States – gave away EVERYTHING.
And you think someone from the Progressive Caucus sitting on this bullshit fucking committee is gonna get any of it back?
You’ve got a lot of nerve accusing any other human being in this world of “magical thinking”.
No, we need to minimize any damage this committee will do in order to frame it on the best possible terms.
Getting stuff back shouldn’t be on your mind until 2013…unless it’s any motivation to kick the Tea Party out (I doubt it will be…).
Obama hadn’t kicked the Tea Party IN.
Your level of political analysis is abysmal.
If you thought it astute I’d have do some serious self-examination.
OHHHHMMMMMMMM
OMMMMMMMMMMMM
OOOOOBBBBAAMMMAAAMMMMMAAAMMMMAAA
OBAMAMAMAMAMA
Obamamamama
i loves me some of you obamabots.
ZOMG! ITS ALL GONE…..!!!