My recommendations to the Joint Select Committtee on mark ups

Each of the CoChairs should set out a Chairman's mark, which should be scored and which should add up the the full 4 trillion dollars and include cuts already agreed to. It should focus on both spending cuts and permanent tax provisions to replace those cuts which expire at the end of next year.


Both scored versions should then be organized along the same lines and then they can hold a public meeting and go through each line item, with public voting, as if they were in conference committee. Any option agreed to with 7 votes is in, with similar items with different amounts negotiated to split the difference. Any item that can't get six votes is dropped. At the end, the final package is voted on. If it gets seven, it is scored and sent to the floor.

In other words, they should do this like any conference committee markup. Details should be punted to the appropriations and revenue committees as necessary, to make a deal more likely, with hard deadlines included for expedited passage in each house and an automatic conference.
Whether this goes into overtime depends on the political courage of the GOP and a calculation on whether it is better to be seen solving problems or preventing tax increases that are inevitable without compromise. show more show less