Another Weekend, Another Transparency Travesty in the House of Representatives

Monday, November 9, 2009 11:47 AM by Mattie Duppler

The "most honest, most ethical and most open Congress” has, so far, failed to do anything to live up to that edict. After promising to post the behemoth health care bill online for 72-hours before a vote would take place, Speaker Pelosi had a vote scheduled for 6:00 Saturday evening, even though the Rules Committee was still working into the early morning of that same day to order the amendments and piece together the “final” bill. What’s more, legislation that has been crafted to implement a 72-hour waiting period excludes weekends and holidays from the waiting period – such a rule would require the vote to be scheduled this coming Thursday on a bill whose rule was released in the early morning of Saturday, not the evening of the same day.

The bill, which could cost Americans trillions, was voted on without complete and accurate information as to its full impact. While the CBO had released its initial and official scoring of the bill, notably absent was the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimate which would have full explained the bill’s effect on Medicare and Medicaid, chief concerns for some of the Democrats who opposed the legislation.

The Democrat meme throughout the day was one of a historical magnitude, with the majority continually proclaiming Saturday as a significant turning point in the country’s history. However, if this bill was such a momentous benchmark, why wouldn’t the Speaker want to give Americans the time to read it and opponents the opportunity to fully vet it? Once again, the rushed process shows what Americans already suspect – with these bills, the Speaker has a lot to hide.

Tags: Transparency SpendingLimits Federal | Comments (0)