The White House has put out a truly disgraceful “myth and facts” post at it’s blog, about the debt ceiling deal, which flatly lies to the American people. From the White House website post:

Myth: The joint committee — the so-called “super committee” — makes it easier for Congress to cut the programs we care about.

Fact: The joint committee system puts pressure on Republicans to seek compromise. As we all know, in this round of deficit reduction, there wasn’t a lot of leverage bringing Republicans to the table. In round two, that changes.

If Republicans aren’t willing to compromise, then the joint committee will fail. This would automatically trigger an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction designed to be painful for both sides, with half that coming from savings in the defense budget.
(emphasis in the original)

This is not a myth.

Any package that comes from the Super Committee will get on up or down vote in both chambers of Congress. It can’t be filibustered in the Senate or amended. This means if a bill comes from the super committee that cuts Medicare or Social Security benefits, it would be able to pass the Senate with only a simply majority, instead of the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.

It is a fact that the super committee created by the debt ceiling will make it easier for Congress to pass cuts to social safety net programs.

For the Obama administration to say this is myth is an outright lie.