how rapidly the Budget Control Act legislation was put together; they objected to having little time to review the rules by which the committee would operate, and to the lack of input on the mechanism from public hearings or debate. Legislators from both major parties expressed concern that the arrangement would "usurp their authority to write and revise legislation." Presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul suggested that members of Congress might be under "tremendous pressure" to vote for the committee's recommendation regardless of its merit. Huffington Post critic R. W. Sanders described the committee as "unelected" with power to "effectively run our country" and possibly issue budget cuts that would "basically go unchallenged." Senator Bob Menendez predicted that the committee would become deadlocked with a "stacked deck" of members opposed to new revenues. An analysis in the New York Times described the committee as similar to other "blue-ribbon panels" established during the past seventy years as a way to "give political cover to policy makers to make unpopular changes"; in most past cases Congress has ignored the panel proposals or procrastinated enacting them. A future Congress could override any decisions made, since one Congress cannot "bind another." A variety of watchdog groups, including Public Campaign and MoveOn.org, were concerned that lobbyists would influence the proceedings, and asked that lawmakers disclose meetings with lobbyists and refrain from political fundraising during the selection process. Standard & Poor's was pessimistic at the outset regarding the chance for serious fiscal reform; the agency downgraded the nation's credit rating from AAA to AA+, writing: Analyst Fareed Zakaria predicted the committee would deadlock without a majority favoring a specific plan, writing: Impasse and failure The initial proposal from the Democrats on the committee offered 3 trillion in deficit reduction, including 1.3 trillion in new revenue and 400 billion in Medicare savings, but was rejected on partisan lines for the level of tax increases. The Republican Toomey plan proposed 1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, including 300 billion in new revenue, but was rejected because it lowered the top marginal tax rate from 35% to 28%. The final agreement would have needed to undergo a 48-hour vetting period by the Congressional Budget Office before being presented to Congress. After financial markets closed on Monday November 21, 2011, the committee issued a statement that it had failed to reach agreement. This failure despite the extraordinary conditions under which the committee