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Constitutional or statutory requirement to rein in growth of revenues end expenditures
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pork-barrel spending - the broken windows of the budget
Lessons Learned: Mandatory Waiting Periods for All Legislation
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:05 PM
by Mattie Duppler While we’ve been filling you in on the increasingly worrisome and opaque practices of the federal government, we aren’t the only ones taking notice. Investor’s Business Daily points out today that the injustices of the legislative process that gave us cap-and-trade, the “stimulus” and most likely major healthcare legislation could be rectified by legislation that requires lawmakers to establish a waiting period before voting on bills, during which the legislation would be posted online for public viewing. IBD goes so far as to require a statement by each representative that they have indeed read the legislation before voting on it.
However, as we discussed during the cap-and-trade transparency travesty that transpired two weeks ago, there already is legislation that has been proposed to that effect. Rep. Brian Baird introduced legislation in June that would require a 72-hour waiting period for any proposed bill. We agree with IBD that 72 hours is a little tight, but any window that allows more sunlight to shine in on the federal government is a great start.
Moreover, we would like congressmen to actually abide by their apparent commitment to transparency: No sooner had Baird introduced the bill to impose a waiting period when he turned around and voted on cap-and-trade without bothering to read the 1,500 page piece of legislation. It seems that without the waiting-period becoming law, there’s little hope that the rushed and irresponsible practice in the most ethical unethical congress ever will change.
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