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This week Democratic and Republican leaders chose 12 lawmakers to sit on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a panel charged with cutting the federal budget by $1.2 trillion before the year’s end. The so-called super committee’s mandate was created in the recent debt ceiling bill that was signed into law, and is supposed to consist of three House representatives from each party, and three Senators from each party. The Democrats nominated are representatives Clyburn, Becerra, and Van Hollen, and Senators Kerry, Murray, and Baucus. And, the Republicans nominated to the super committee are House Representatives Camp, Upton, and Hensarling, and Senators Toomey, Portman, and Kyl. Democratic Senator Patty Murray is the only woman on the committee. Questions have already surfaced about the group’s chances of agreeing to specific cuts. All six Republicans have signed on to Grover Norquist’s pledge to raise no new taxes. And, with an election year coming up, many Democrats say they are reluctant to make further cuts to social safety-net programs. If the panel fails to come up with a proposal by its November 23rd deadline, a two percent cut in federal spending will take effect automatically, with Medicare and the Pentagon’s budgets coming under the axe. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has already made it clear that he will not support any cuts to the military and corporate lobbyists are flocking to Washington to protect their industries. Politico quoted one K Streeter as saying he was gearing up “by writing 12 really large checks.” If just one of panel members crosses party lines, the committee’s recommendations will go to Congress for an up-or-down-vote, then move on for President Obama signature – or veto. The super-committee’s negotiations are not required to be public, and this week, criticism came from an unlikely source: Newt Gingrich said the group’s creation was “as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with.” He added, “[w]e owe it to the American people to say this committee should be in public… We should all know what they’re talking about. There should be no surprises.”

GUEST: Ari Berman is contributing writer for The Nation magazine and the author of Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics

Read Ari Berman’s article here: http://www.thenation.com/blog/162747/ari-berman-not-so-super-committee