Pigs in pokes
I keep thinking that I’ve achieved a level of cynicism such that I won’t be shocked by anything our government can do, but then I discover that I’m wrong. We’re just supposed to trust the President when he says that the illegal wiretaps were so time sensitive that they couldn’t be brought before the secret court that could have approved them. I’m not all that surprised to learn that the President was sleeping through 10th grade American Government when they covered checks and balances, but I can’t believe that no one in the Administration seems to have noticed (or had the guts to point this out to him).
Meanwhile I’ve been spending much of the weekend hitting refresh on my computer, checking CQ.com and the Congressional websites, trying to figure out what exactly is in the budget reconciliation bill that Congress is about to pass. It appears that some version of welfare reauthorization is in there, but the details are extremely murky. And, as the Center on Budget and Policy Prioirities points out, even the members of Congress themselves are likely to get the actual bill text — hundreds of pages of it — only shortly before they’re asked to vote on it.
So what do you think is in those pokes?
December 19th, 2005 at 9:12 am
The thing that I found even more disturbing about this story is that the Administration convinced the NY Times to sit on it for A YEAR! It is truly outrageous that Bush thinks he can do whatever he wants, but its (sadly) not that surprising. What is surprising is the extent to which the Fourth Estate is willing to let him. I’ve always thought of a free press as being another check to keep our system in balance. But I guess I’m naive in that.
December 19th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
I have often wondered how familiar the full House and Senate are with bills that run into the hundreds of pages, before they’re required to vote on them.
December 19th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
Yes, Megan, me too– it would explain all of those shady programs that get attached as riders, that legislators then say they nothing about. At least no one’s pretending they didn’t know that drilling in Alaslka was attched to the latest Defense bill, although it passed anyway.
Elizabeth, I am finding new levels of disillusionment every day when it comes to “our” government.