UPDATE - McConnell spokesman Don Stewart: "The story is wrong. There is no requirement to vote for the bill. Period." Phew. One element of my qualified, tepid support for this flawed deal was a belief that strong fiscal conservatives would comprise the GOP's contingent on the joint special committee. If Hayes' initial sources had been correct, the compromise would have instantly become appreciably worse, and many conservatives would have rightly felt betrayed.
“One element of my qualified, tepid support for this flawed deal was a belief that strong fiscal conservatives would comprise the GOP’s contingent on the joint special committee.”
It would still not fly. Think it through: only 12 States at the most will get partial representation, 38 States will get -NO- direct representation in the Royal Congress. The odds of your local representative being in this Royal Congress are 3 in 435. The odds of either of your senators being appointed to the Royal Congress are 1 in 100. This will also seal in perpetuity the Republican and Democrat monopoly on power, because no independent or third party would EVER be appointed to the Royal Congress.
This is institutionalized taxation without representation. A less extreme form was the whole reason for our secession from England.
We’ll be watching who they nominate for the committee. If there are no solid fiscal conservatives on the committee there will be hell to pay at the ballot box.