Look, nobody in Washington wants the list of cuts to be read and understood by the public. They want a 2,000 page omnibus proposal package to be released, in a handful of printed copies only, less than a day before it is voted on. They want to be able to say that they HAD to vote for it, or risk economic meltdown.

This explains why everyone - the president, Congress, the media - has been trying to emphasize the apocalypse that would ensue if they delayed the vote. The president has even gone as far as saying that Social Security checks might not make it out, and that the U.S. government faces an imminent threat of default.

This explains why the two plans still in Congress, the Reid plan andthe Boehner plan, are so similar and yet no concensus can be made.

No politician wants their name to be tied to cuts to social services, especially Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. The only strategy is to have opposing plans be discussed, blocked, scrapped, and have a new one drafted hours before the vote. Each side can effectively blame the other party ("We had a plan, but they wouldn't take it"). They score points for demanding "as much as they could get" but still being able to negotiate a compromise at the last minute.

And nobody gets to read the proposal. Big win for everyone except the American people.