The Debt Reduction Supercommittee ( DRS) is a Joke.

If you have missed my blogs, then thank you. Several of my readers have asked where have I been? I was waiting for the smog to the lift over America's credit rating and a return to rational buying in the stock market. And rather than wait forever, I am cautiously venturing back into the world of words.

The next 5 months will be fodder. Actually, the DRS has until Thanksgiving to complete its work, and congress has until Christmas to vote. The timeline itself is food for late night talk show dinners. Frankly, I expect a fat turkey for Thanksgiving and no gifts for Christmas. Why? Because there is no real incentive for the DRS to do anything significant. The DRS motivation is fraught with insidious humor. Still, it is no laughing matter, but the DRS is a joke. I understand there are penalties for not reaching a new accord, but the penalties penalize the wrong people.

The DRS was formed from an embryo of disagreement. The members of congress said the job of whittling down the government's enormous debt was urgent; so urgent that they could not agree, after months of discussions, on how to do it. Never do today what can be put-off until tomorrow. Hence, the creation of the DRS. The DRS is a 12 member panel named by house and senate leaders of both parties. The DRS has a $1.5 trillion deficit reduction goal over 10 years. The goal was set by OBama and congress.

Let's be perfectly clear. The deficit reduction agreement was a canard and investors did not bite. The market dropped as Obama gave his televised, "That was no iceberg" speech. Obama wants more of your money. Republicans want to reduce spending, the way families have to do when they are in debt. With no agreement in place, a DRS was formed with severe "penalties" for not coming to an agreement. The penalties were another joke.

The joke is the way the DRS is motivated. If the DRS can not agree on what to cut to achieve the goal, then the military and our seniors get punished. In other words, if the parents screw-up, then let's punish the kids. A more rational incentive would be - if the DRS can not agree, then the DRS members must fly coach, resign from congress, lose all their retirement income, as well as, lose all future medical benefits and must look for a job in the automotive industry. With that incentive, we would have agreement by Labor day.

If incentives are designed to work, then the punishment must be directly levied on the DRS members, not the military or senior citizens. The method that is used to motivate the DRS committee members sends the psychology of incentive systems back to the middle ages. According to the new congressional penalty system, when your house is robbed, we will punish the home owner and let the robber go free.

The DRS is destined to fail. I  hope that the republicans at the Iowa debates set the table for a Thanksgiving turkey and a bleak Christmas. As always, I prepare for the worse and hope for the best.