Bad. Bad. Bad.
As has been reported, McConnell is negotiating now with Sen. Harry Reid for a large-scale package that will allow the debt ceiling to rise unless overturned by a two-thirds vote. If a White House debt-ceiling deal comes through with $1.5 trillion of spending cuts, that will be part of the package. Right now, it’s not completed because enforceable spending caps have not been determined.
The key part of the new McConnell package is a joint committee to review entitlements in a massive deficit-reduction package. Unlike the Bowles-Simpson commission, this committee will be mandated to have a legislative outcome — an actual vote — that will occur early next year. No White House members. Evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. No outsiders. This will be the first time such a study would have an expedited procedure mandated with no amendments permitted. Also, tax reform could be air-dropped into this committee’s report.
Allahpundit adds:
Er, how exactly is this a pot sweetener for Republicans? We’re going to pass the McConnell bill to shift most (but not all) of the power over the debt ceiling to Obama, and in return we get . . . to take a tough vote on entitlement reform in an election year, when the Democrats will already be hard at work on Mediscaring? There’s little chance that any commission proposal will pass the Senate, bipartisan or not; there’s a slim chance that it won’t even pass the House as centrist Republicans from purple districts get squeamish about tackling Social Security just a few months out from election day.