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PRESS RELEASE
-For Immediate Release-
November 21, 2011

Contact: Brian Gumm, (202) 683-4812, bgumm@ombwatch.org

OMB Watch Lauds End of Undemocratic “Super Committee”

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21—The so-called Super Committee announced today that it did not come to an agreement on deficit reduction. This should not be viewed as a failure. OMB Watch decried this undemocratic, unrepresentative, nontransparent process from its inception.

“The country has dodged a bullet,” said Katherine McFate, president of OMB Watch. “After months of meeting behind closed doors, with Democratic members making offers that would have eroded entitlement protections for the elderly and with Republicans offering few concessions on taxes on the wealthy, the Super Committee has called it quits. This is a good thing. Now it’s time for Congress to address the real causes of the growing federal debt: the 2001 tax cuts, war spending, and the unemployment crisis.”

The Super Committee, officially known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, was tasked with solving the nation’s “debt crisis” as part of a deal brokered when Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats refused to raise the country’s debt ceiling in August. The prospect of a debt default by the world’s richest country created an atmosphere of crisis, forcing the Senate and President Obama to agree to a process designed to short-circuit established, democratic lawmaking. The 12 legislators chosen for the committee represent just 16 percent of the American population and have, on balance, 13 times more wealth than the ordinary American household. With just one woman and two minorities among the 12 members, they were not demographically representative of the population of the country or of American voters. Since the inception of the Super Committee, OMB Watch has called for transparency and posts updates on the Super Committee’s actions on SuperCommitteeWatch.org.

With the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations over the past two months, the political discourse in Washington, DC, has shifted from a singular focus on deficit reduction to a broader – and we believe more critical and appropriate – debate about what the federal government can do to reduce the unemployment rate and encourage job growth. The unemployment rate is at nine percent, six million workers have been unemployed for six months or longer, one in four young people are jobless, and 46 million Americans are now in poverty.

“An immediate, strict austerity budget is not what the country needs right now. This is not the time to gut our safety net programs,” McFate asserted. “Let us hope that the deficit-reduction scrooges do not attempt to play hostage politics with unemployment insurance and payroll taxes during the holiday season. The mandatory cuts required by sequestration would not take effect until 2013, so we have time to have an honest, open debate about our national priorities that allows every American to understand the choices we face as a nation.”

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OMB Watch is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest. Find OMB Watch on Facebook and Twitter.

Background

On Aug. 2, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). The bill allows the president to increase the debt ceiling by up to $2.8 trillion, but it will reduce the deficit by $2.3 trillion over 10 years, with at least $840 billion coming from discretionary spending cuts over the next decade. There are two ways the federal deficit can be cut - through "caps" on categories of spending or through a proposed budget hammered out by a "Super Committee" of 12 members of Congress. The automatic caps exempt some mandatory programs like Social Security, food stamps, and Medicare. However, no revenues would be raised to help retire the deficit. The Super Committee could cut any program or raise revenues.

Officially the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the "Super Committee" is a special joint committee of Congress, made up of 12 members. The majority and minority leadership of both houses choose three members each, leaving the committee with six Democrats and six Republicans, three from each house. This group will have until Nov. 23 to produce a proposal. If a majority of the committee agrees on a plan, it will be sent to Congress for a yes or no vote by Dec. 23. The Super Committee can raise revenue or cut any program in creating a deficit reduction plan. Nothing is off the table.

Hearings & Meetings

Sept. 8, 2011 Meeting Organizational Meeting

Sept. 13, 2011 Hearing The History and Drivers of Our Nation's Debt and Its Threats"

Sept. 22, 2011 Hearing Overview: Revenue Options and Reforming the Tax Code

Oct. 26, 2011 Hearing Overview: Discretionary Outlays, Security and Non-Security

Nob. 1, 2011 Hearing Overview of Previous Debt Proposals

Visit the Official Super Committee Website: Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

Demand Transparency

Over the past several weeks, it has been hard to avoid the drama of the debt ceiling negotiations. While default was avoided, the Budget Control Act settled the debt ceiling issue by pushing most of the tough decisions to a new joint committee of Congress (the “Super Committee”). The committee is tasked with producing another bill that will further reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion, which will likely result in deep cuts to public programs. Such significant cuts are sure to affect every American and every community. With so much at stake, the public deserves to know what the Super Committee is reading, who they are talking to, and what they are considering. Unfortunately, the debt ceiling legislation did not contain any significant transparency requirements that Americans expect and deserve.

We need to inject openness and mechanisms for the public's voice into this important national debate. The stakes are high. Special interest lobbyists are already gearing up to defend their pet projects. They'd rather operate in the dark – and usually, Congress would, too. We have to make it clear that is not how democracy operates.

As the Super Committee wrestles with spending cuts of such magnitude, it must commit to openness and accountability. The new joint committee should establish a dedicated website where all information associated with the committee's activities is posted in real time, including:

Proposals and supporting documentation
Witness lists and hearing agendas
Live and archived webcasts of all meetings and hearings
A means to collect and aggregate public feedback and reactions to the proposals being considered

Beyond the disclosure website, Congress should also ensure that the Super Committee:

Is composed of members who support an open and accountable process
Guarantees all official meetings will be open to the press and the general public
Asks for and publishes comments from the public on both the legislative language and its accompanying report prior to a final vote

Finally, to guard against special interest influence peddling, each committee member and each staff member working for the committee should:

Post his or her financial holdings online immediately and leave them online at least nine months after the committee disbands
Post his or her campaign contributions online within 24 hours of receipt and leave them online through his or her next election

We’re pleased to see that some Members of Congress – from both political parties – have joined the call for openness.

The American people need to scrutinize and participate in these deliberations. Our colleagues at the Sunlight Foundation have set the ball in the motion, and we encourage you to read their blog post on the issue. Afterwards, we encourage you to contribute your thoughts as well: on Facebook, on Twitter, on your blog, or in an op-ed. Start the conversation in your community – and bring it to your members of Congress.

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