I for one do NOT welcome our new Congressional overlords.
It is a miscarriage of democracy that this idea is even being entertained by the leaders of the Democratic and Republican Parties. If this were to pass into law, Congressional leaders would be able to select, based on their own criteria, a panel of six Democrats and six Republicans to supersede the Congress. This tactic will be used to ram through legislation that otherwise would die in debate. Essentially with this program you will get a panel of Congressmen who decide that a particular bill is credible. Perhaps cuts to social programs (SS, Medicare, Medicaid). They "pass" this bill onto the larger Congress who ISN'T allowed to debate the bill's merits and demerits. Their only power is to vote it up or down. This is not democracy. This is OLIGARCHY.
"Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία, oligarkhía<1>) is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military control. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words "ὀλίγος" (olígos), "a few"<2> and the verb "ἄρχω" (archo), "to rule, to govern, to command".<3> Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.
Throughout history, most oligarchies have been tyrannical, relying on public servitude to exist, although others have been relatively benign. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy,
but oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group, and do not have to be connected by bloodlines as in a monarchy. Some city-states from ancient Greece were oligarchies."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OligarchyWe would elect officials who would choose based on their own criteria for what makes a competent Congressman an overarching group... "one ring to rule them all" if you will. Let's think about the kinds of people who would get this selection and who would do the selecting.
Would a Senator Kennedy or Sanders ever be chosen? An FDR or LBJ? Not at all! The establishment would chose establishment Congressmen, those who would vote with their party leader most. Think about the kind of DLCer's we would have running roughshod over Congress.
Now think about one more thing. What if corporations were able to get people elected to Congress. (If? I know, don't make me laugh!) What if you then make it so that corporations and other SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS such as BIG OIL, BIG PHARMA, and BIG AGRA only need to secure SEVEN Congressmen in power to control the ENTIRE COUNTRY'S AGENDA.
Bills that pass through the "Super Congress" would supersede other bills in "Lesser Congress". They would get first crack at it. Before long, the only bills that would ever see the light of day will be ones that go through the "Super Congress". The only bills that ever get voted on will be those who the "Super Congress" decides are good for the country.
This idea has come up now because of two reasons and they are the "extremes" of the two parties. The fact is that we have a Democratic Party and a Republican Party in pieces. In regards to the debt bill, the shard of the Republican Party (the Tea Party) will not accept tax increases. In the Democratic Party the shard is the corporate and Blue Dog Democrats. They want to trade SS/Medicare/Medicaid cuts for a debt ceiling bill.
Creating this "Super Congress" will bypass both of these groups. It will make a "cut, cap, and balance" or similar bill HAPPEN. It will lead to CUTS TO SOCIAL PROGRAMS. It will lead to the American people footing the bill AGAIN instead of corporations who caused this mess. This "Super Congress" is a front for special interests who want to take control of this country and legislate as quickly and efficiently as possible. Why buy off all of Congress if you only need to buy off SEVEN PEOPLE.
In short, we are talking about the end of democracy. The "Super Congress" is nothing more than a ploy to further strip the American people of their democratic rights.