Super Congress Activate!
Well last week all appointed members for the first ever “Super Congress” were revealed and here they are in no particular order.
The Democrats -
· Senator John Kerry
o Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator for over 20 years, and former Presidential Nominee
· Senator Max Baucus
o Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance been a Senator since 1978 one of the longest tenured Congressman in Washington D.C.
· Senator Patty Murray
o Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Committee of Veteran Affairs, serving in Congress since 1992.
· Representative Chris Van Hollen
o Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee and Congressmen since 2003.
· Representative Xavier Becerra
o Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and member and of the Ways and Means Committee , has been a congressman since 2003
· Representative James Clyburn
o Former House Majority Whip, currently Assistant Democratic Leader in the House Representatives and Congressman since 1993.
The Republicans -
· Senator Pat Toomey
o Former House of Representatives Congressman and current Junior Senator from Pennsylvania , has served in Congress 1999-2005 and 2010 to present
· Senator Jon Kyl
o Senate Minority Whip, Former Ranking Member in the Finance Committee, Former House of Representative Congressman and served in Congress since 1987.
· Senator Rob Portman
o Former House of Representative Congressman, Former Cabinet member for George W. Bush (U.S. Trade Representative and Director of the Management and Budget office) and current Junior Senator from Ohio. Has served in Congress or cabinet position since 1993
· Representative Jeb Hensarling
o Vice Chair on the House of Representative Financial Services Committee and served in Congress since 2003
· Representative Fred Upton
o Chairman for the Energy and Commerce Committee and has served in Congress since 1987
· Representative Dave Camp
o Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and has served in Congress since 1991
Now I know that was very dry and boring but I feel it is important to note a few things regarding the “super congress” appointments:
1. No member of the “gang of six” was appointed. This could be a positive, in that; everyone will have a fresh start and not coming in with prearranged deals. However more likely this is going to be a negative, since there is such a small window to get a very large deal done, starting with an already known idea would have provided a great framework to start negotiations.
2. All the Republican members of the “super congress” have signed Grover Norquist’s tax pledge stating they will not raise taxes. This could spell trouble just as it did in reaching our first debt deal and warrants us keeping watch.
3. No freshman congressman were appointed on either side, Only experienced, more tenured congressman who understand the importance of this deal were appointed and this should give us all optimism that both sides want a deal to get done.
What do you see in the appointments of the “super congress"?
No comments:
Post a Comment