Some of the biggest spending bills in the history of the American Republic have been approved without public input or lawmakers even reading them, according to a group that’s hoping to open up the legislative process in Washington, D.C.
For example, the final version of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion, 1,100-page “economic stimulus” bill was approved by Congress just 13 hours after it was made available to lawmakers.
Did anybody read the final version of the bill?
Here’s a quick and easy test – Leo Tolstoy’s nineteenth century magnum opus War & Peace is also approximately 1,100 pages.
Go pick up a copy at your local bookstore and see how far you get in 13 hours …
Clearly, many of the bailout‘s key provisions were widely known beforehand, but billions of dollars were moved hither and yon during the final negotiations, including more than $18 billion that was raided from a small business stabilization fund.
Additionally, several key amendments that would have required competitive bidding for stimulus funds or prevented their use on things like museums, art centers and other frivilous expenditures were stripped from the final version of the bill.
Sadly, lawmakers, advocacy groups (on both sides) and the taxpayers who will ultimately have to pick up the tab for this thing had only half a day to look at the final compromise.
Fortunately the website ReadTheBill.org is seeking to change that process, proposing a “72-hour rule” that would require most legislation to be posted online for 72 hours prior to Congress commencing debate.
A similar proposal has been offered here in South Carolina by Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort).
The logic behind these proposals is simple.
When people have time to review bills, it’s easier to locate (and ostensibly correct) potential problems like waste, fraud, inefficiency, duplication, conflicts of interest or any other issue.
For example, say a bill creates an American Socialist Republic … wait, never mind.
Ramrodding bills through doesn’t permit any scrutiny, which when you get right down to it is precisely why bills are ramrodded through as often as they are.
Imposing a 72-hour rule would dramatically curtail our politicians’ propensity for shady behavior, which is why this rule should be adopted in both Washington and Columbia this year.
If our elected officials are serious about transparency and “change,” allowing the public to review legislation at every step in the process is critical to achieving those objectives.
