Yet Another Reason Why It's Better for the Super Committee to Fail

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: The sequester is better.

If the deficit reduction Super Committee doesn't come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, a trigger mechanism called a sequester that reduces planned spening by about $1.1 trillion kicks in instead. As Nick Gillespie recently pointed out, those baseline reductions are relatively minor, and they may not even happen.

But they're better than nothing, which as The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez points out, is what we could get even if the Super Committee ends up making a recommendation to Congress:

But there's a second way that the committee could fail, one that could be even more politically devastating for members of Congress: The panel could produce a debt-reduction plan, only for one (or both) chambers to shoot it down when it comes up for a floor vote before Dec. 23.

The outlook for such a scenario depends on whom you ask – and even leaders on Capitol Hill have varied perspectives on the matter.

If the Super Committee gets enough votes to back a proposal, Congress is obligated to vote on it. But Congress is not obligated to pass it. Which would leave us with yet another deficit reduction plan that will have zero impact on the deficit.