Today the Senate voted to kill the proposal for a so-called deficit reduction commission. For once the vote was bipartisan -- roughly half of the Democrats and half of the Republicans voted against the proposal.
The outcome seems correct to me. The plan was to have the commission reveal its plan only after the November elections and then to have it voted upon before the new Congress takes office. So we were to have a commission meeting in secret come forth with a plan which could include cuts in social security and medicare as well as major tax increases that would then be voted upon by large numbers of Congressmen who were leaving office. To describe this as anti-democratic does not do it justice. Essentially, the plan was one to remove all chance that the people would have a say about what is to be done. It would also absolve representatives and senators from having to take responsibility for their votes.
It well may be that the current crop of people in congress do not have the courage to do what is right for the country. If so, they should be replaced. We have seen enough anti-democratic moves like the back room secret deals to give billions to Obama's allies to last for many decades. There is no need to add yet another one of these.
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