Huffington Post reports:
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.
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Legislation approved by the Super Congress ... 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.
Michael Rivero comments:
This article is correct. The Constitution does not provide for such a sham. This group of 12 will do the dirty work so that the rest of Congress can evade the wrath of the voters in 2012. No doubt the 6 Senators will not be up for re-election in 2012 while the 6 house members will either be impossible to defeat or predicted to lose anyway no matter what they do.