Keep These Debt Talks Behind Closed Doors

Transparency would reward special-interest groups: Joshua Green
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2011 1:43 PM CDT
Keep These Debt Talks Behind Closed Doors
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio takes part in a news conference on Capitol Hill Monday.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The "super committee" that will try to find $1.5 trillion in agreed-upon cuts is nearly in place, and there's a growing sentiment that their negotiations should be open to the public. "That's an absolutely terrible idea," writes Joshua Green at the Atlantic. Only special-interest groups would benefit from such transparency, because they could apply pressure as needed to keep their precious tax loopholes in place.

"Anyone who genuinely cares about the deficit ought to welcome the idea of private negotiations, since these are far more likely to yield a positive result by creating a venue for candid exchange and limiting the input of the forces that ordinarily shape the tax code," writes Green. Click to read his full post. (More super committee stories.)

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