The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which Congress passed last week. The bipartisan committee is made up of six Senators and six Representatives, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats represented. These are the same Democrats and Republicans who spent weeks and months in a deadlock over the national debt. The committee must produce debt-reducing legislation by November 23 – what is the likelihood that they will be successful? We’re speaking with Steven Smith, professor of political science at Washington University. Smith says that the committee is doomed to failure.
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