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Eight days left: Was super committee a bad idea from the start?

As the Nov. 23 deadline to propose a plan to trim $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit approaches, many in Congress are saying that that super committee should never have been created.

On Aug. 2, with the nation on the brink of its first-ever default on the national debt, the option of punting the tough decisions to a 鈥渟uper committee鈥� with a fixed deadline seemed like a good way out. But now, just eight days out, many lawmakers are signaling buyers鈥� remorse.

For some, it鈥檚 the fact that the committee has conducted its work almost entirely in secret, but for the occasional unconfirmed leak. For others, it鈥檚 the prospect of cuts to signature programs 鈥� or tax hikes 鈥� with no further say for Congress, other than an up-or-down vote.

By law, the joint deficit reduction committee must report to Congress by Nov. 23, and both the House and Senate must take the plan to a simple majority vote, without possibility of amendment or filibuster. If the panel fails to produce a plan or Congress fails to pass it or the president fails to sign it, $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts take effect in 2013.

鈥淚t was a bad idea from the start,鈥� says Rep. Rush Holt (D) of New Jersey, a member of the Progressive Caucus. 鈥淐ongress should never have relinquished its powers to a committee.鈥�

鈥淎 lot of my constituents are saying:聽I sure hope they fail, because whatever they come up with is going to be awful,鈥� he adds. 鈥淣ow the interesting thing is that if they fail, what comes up is awful, too. The whole thing is as disastrous formulation that won鈥檛 work will if it succeeds and won鈥檛 work well if it fails.鈥�

In a bid to gets its issues on the super committee agenda, the Progressive Caucus held its own ad hoc hearing on Wednesday to focus attention on the need to invest in job creation. 鈥淔or this nation to succeed, the super committee must fail,鈥澛爏aid witness Bob Borosage,聽president of the Institute for America鈥檚 Future.

鈥淲e ought to be having a fierce argument about how to create jobs,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚nstead, the super committee is pushing austerity. This is simply folly.鈥澛犅�

The 12-member deficit-reduction panel solicited recommendations from standing committees of the Congress, but there have been no subsequent public hearing vetting the claims of one committee鈥檚 priorities against another.

鈥淭hey spent all this time working on farm programs, which is the tail of the dog,鈥� says Rep. Jack Kingston (R) of Georgia. 鈥淭he big money is in food stamps, school聽lunches, and WIC [the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children]. Will the super committee deal with it? Hell, no.鈥�

A coalition of public-interest groups has called on the super committee for a higher standard of transparency, as well as a moratorium on fundraising by members of the panel, because the stakes are so high. Instead, with the exception of four public informational hearings, most of the committee鈥檚 deliberations have been behind closed doors.聽

But there is some evidence that members took voluntary action to scale back fundraising activities. Five of the six senators on the super committee raised considerably less money in the third quarter of this year 鈥� that is, after they began serving on the panel 鈥� than in the second.聽聽Four saw decreases of more than 60 percent, according to a report by the Sunlight Foundation.

Still, since the panel did not adopt any formal rules limiting fundraising, activists remain worried.

鈥淔谤辞尘 AARP to health care and defense, the lobbying of the super committee could end up being bigger than what we saw for health-care reform and banking reform,鈥� says Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation.聽鈥淎t this point, due to the absolute lack of transparency, we don鈥檛 have a good sense of where it鈥檚 going.鈥�

That sense of being out of the loop on critical tax and spending issues is also wearing on members of Congress. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not meant to be an outsider looking in,鈥� says Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) of Ohio.聽鈥淚 don鈥檛 like the super committee:聽It鈥檚 not transparent. It鈥檚 an insider鈥檚 game. It鈥檚 a subversion of the normal legislative process.鈥�

In a new CNN poll, 78 percent of respondents say that it鈥檚 unlikely that the committee will develop a plan to significantly reduce the federal budget deficit by its Nov. 23 deadline.聽Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that negotiations are at a very difficult point. Last week, Republicans made an offer to increase taxes by some $300 billion. Democrats say that鈥檚 not enough, but have yet to make a counter offer.

鈥淔ailure can鈥檛 be an option,鈥� said Sen. Mark Warner (D) of Virginia, at a bipartisan rally he helped organize to encourage the super committee to 鈥済o big鈥� and find a deficit-reduction package in the $4 trillion range. Some 150 members of Congress, including 45 senators and more than 100 House members, have backed a letter calling on the super committee to 鈥済o big鈥� and keep all options on the table. That includes tax hikes opposed by GOP leaders and entitlement cuts opposed by Democrats.

鈥淲hether we like it or not, this debt and deficit debate has become, in effect, a proxy for whether our democratic institutions are up to the job in the 21st century,鈥� he added.