Super committee: Are all the old deficit-reduction ideas new again?

As the panel considers its approach to reach deficit-reduction targets, much of the input it is getting from congressional committees and outside interest groups seems to track with existing ideas rather than innovative approaches.

Politico: Super Committee: Recycling Bin For Old Ideas?
Rather than taking the legislative all-star team's offer to make recommendations as an opportunity to offer big new ideas to solve a big problem, think tanks, congressional committees and outside interest groups read it as a good time to pull the leftovers off the shelf. Not terribly original but also not necessarily a bad approach, according to congressional experts (Allen and Kim, 10/20).

Also in the news:

The Hill: AMA Bills For Lobbying Super Committee As High As During Health Care Bill Debate
The American Medical Association spent almost as much money on lobbyists this summer as it did during the height of the health care reform debate. The AMA spent more than $7.2 million on lobbying in the third quarter of this year, according to disclosure records that became public Thursday. That's a 66 percent jump over the previous quarter. An AMA spokesperson said lobbying spiked because the group has been pushing the super committee to replace Medicare's payment system. Repealing the formula, known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR), is always at the top of the AMA's legislative agenda. But it has launched an especially big push with the super committee (Baker, 10/20).