Accountability, Schmaccountability.
Does anyone remember this golden oldie from a few months ago?
Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.
Hmm…is Sunday to Tuesday five days?
President Obama will sign landmark health-care legislation into law Tuesday at the White House without waiting for the Senate to deal with a package of revisions that was also approved by the House late Sunday, administration officials said.
Officials unveiled the plan to use a White House signing ceremony to showcase the benefits of the health-care overhaul after a divided House passed the Senate-approved bill and the separate revisions, known as a reconciliation bill, in a marathon Sunday session that culminated more than a year of political recriminations over Obama’s signature domestic initiative.
Not mentioned at the head of this WaPo article is that the Senate has to debate and vote on the reconciliation package the House approved last night. That bill is where Nancy Pelosi stuck all the “fixes” and various political bribes that she promised to hesitant members to get their votes on the Senate health care bill last night. If those “fixes” don’t get approved by the Senate, Pelosi and Obama are going to face a few dozen very angry Democratic House members (who in turn are already facing a very angry voting public). They might as well kiss all the other ginormous-government programs they want, like cap-and-trade, goodbye. So the President and his detached Kuato, Nancy Pelosi, need as many dog-and-pony shows as they can get to help ensure that the Senate passes the whole reconciliation bill.
Maybe the President should revise and extend his promise to include the phrase “…unless he can use the signing ceremony as a political gimmick, in which case, the American public needs to know exactly jack about what he and his Democratis friends are about to do to it.” It has the benefit of being honest, at least.
(via Mary Katharine Ham)
