Today's New York Post has an article about the upcoming vote on the healthcare reform proposal. In the article, it states:
""I don't expect to actually read the legislative language because . . . the legislative language is among the more confusing things I've ever read in my life," Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) told an online news service."
Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't it the job of Congress to read the bills they pass?
According to the article, these are the comments of John Cornyn:
""The conceptual language is not good enough," committee member Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CNSnews.com.
""We've seen that there are side deals that have been cut," Cornyn said.
""So we need to know not only the conceptual language, we need to know the detailed legislative language, and we need to know what kind of secret deals have been cut on the side which would have an impact on how much this bill is going to cost and how it will affect health care in America.""
I have no idea of how we got to the place where Congress votes on an idea and writes the bill later, but it is not a good place to be. What happened to the idea of posting the bill online for 72 hours so that people could take a look at it? Even if we don't understand all the legal jargon, we can get an idea of what is involved. I don't trust Congress when it refuses to let America see what it is doing. It is definitely time for some transparency.
Leave a comment