Q: Should Legislation be posted on-line 72 hours B4 a vote?

[Danno 1,228]

Can anyone find fault with the concept that the public... not to mention those voting, should have time to digest what it is that is being voted on?

Suggestions such as 72 hours lead-time are being proposed as these bills have become so large it is almost impossible to consume and reflect on it's implications.

What do you think... good or bad?

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Congressional leaders fight against posting bills online

By: Susan Ferrechio

Chief Congressional Correspondent

October 6, 2009

As Congress lurches closer to a decision on an enormous overhaul of the American health care system, pressure is mounting on legislative leaders to make the final bill available online for citizens to read before a vote.

Lawmakers were given just hours to examine the $789 billion stimulus plan, sweeping climate-change legislation and a $700 billion bailout package before final votes.

While most Americans normally ignore parliamentary detail, with health care looming, voters are suddenly paying attention. The Senate is expected to vote on a health bill in the weeks to come, representing months of work and stretching to hundreds of pages. And as of now, there is no assurance that members of the public, or even the senators themselves, will be given the chance to read the legislation before a vote.

"The American people are now suspicious of not only the lawmakers, but the process they hide behind to do their work," said Michael Franc, president of government relations for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

At town hall meetings across the country this past summer, the main topic was health care, but there was a strong undercurrent of anger over the way Congress rushed through passage of the stimulus, global warming and bank bailout bills without seeming to understand the consequences. The stimulus bill, for example, was 1,100 pages long and made available to Congress and the public just 13 hours before lawmakers voted on it. The bill has failed to provide the promised help to the job market, and there was outrage when it was discovered that the legislation included an amendment allowing American International Group, a bailout recipient, to give out millions in employee bonuses.

"If someone had a chance to look at the bill, they would have found that out," said Lisa Rosenberg, who lobbies Congress on behalf of the Sunlight Foundation to bring more transparency to government.

The foundation has begun an effort to get Congress to post bills online, for all to see, 72 hours before lawmakers vote on them.

"It would give the public a chance to really digest and understand what is in the bill," Rosenberg said, "and communicate whether that is a good or a bad thing while there is still time to fix it."

A similar effort is under way in Congress. Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Greg Walden, R-Ore., are circulating a petition among House lawmakers that would force a vote on the 72-hour rule.

Nearly every Republican has signed on, but the Democratic leadership is unwilling to cede control over when bills are brought to the floor for votes and are discouraging their rank and file from signing the petition. Senate Democrats voted down a similar measure last week for the health care bill.

The reluctance to implement a three-day rule is not unique to the Democrats.

The Republican majority rushed through the controversial Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as well as a massive Medicare prescription drug bill in 2003 that added hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit.

For the majority party, legislative timing plays a big role in whether a bill will pass because support can be fleeting.

"The leaders use it as a tool to get votes or to keep amendments off a bill," said one top Senate Democratic aide.

But Baird warned of public backlash.

"Democrats know politically it's difficult to defend not doing this," he said. "The public gets this. They say we entrust you with the profound responsibility of making decisions that affect our lives, and we expect you to exercise due diligence in carrying out that responsibility."

[SMOKE 1,426]

i don't see a problem w/ posting it. unless of course, they don't want you to know what is in it.

[mawilson 2,133]

i don't see a problem w/ posting it. unless of course, they don't want you to know what is in it.

Exactly.

[Pooky 3,786]

Well, Congress doesn't read it before it votes, so why should the people Congress answers to be able to see it?

[Danno 1,228]

Of course the downside would be those times when either party wants to ram something through quickly.... those 3:am friday votes when few people are paying attention.

This just seems like something that is long over due to me.

1. It allows the one casting a vote to consider the final Bill.

2. It allows the public to examine and respond.

4. it removes the excuse that .."that detail slipped by us as we only had a few hours to even read the bill before th vote".

We have heard this with the Stimulus package and the Homeland security.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

[AlHayatZween 2]

it's a good idea.

they should make all the things they are working on more easily accessible to the general public.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

Doh!

[Pooky 3,786]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

Doh!

I think it's urgent now, because the wife has insomnia and I thought that if getting her to read all 6 versions of the healthcare bill didn't put her to sleep, I'd have to break out some Dostoyevsky.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

Doh!

I think it's urgent now, because the wife has insomnia and I thought that if getting her to read all 6 versions of the healthcare bill didn't put her to sleep, I'd have to break out some Dostoyevsky.

The luxury of living under a representational democracy is that I don't have to do the job that Congress is elected to do.

[Pooky 3,786]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

Doh!

I think it's urgent now, because the wife has insomnia and I thought that if getting her to read all 6 versions of the healthcare bill didn't put her to sleep, I'd have to break out some Dostoyevsky.

The luxury of living under a representational democracy is that I don't have to do the job that Congress is elected to do.

If the healthcare bills could cure the wife's insomnia, I'd be able to say that they would work for the country.

[Danno 1,228]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

You are absolutely right, the GOP could have got this done when the had the chance though I don't recall the Dems getting shut down trying to implement it either.

But now we have a new era of "transparency" and if this is true (we shall see) ...it will be a good thing.

Wanna take bets?

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

what happened to the promise of transparency?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

it's a good idea.

they should make all the things they are working on more easily accessible to the general public.

[Pooky 3,786]

Maybe the GOP will institute this whenever - of if ever - they regain a majority. Seems to me they had plenty of time to get that done and didn't. Where's the outrage, Danno? Not that it would be a bad idea but what makes this so urgent now - other than the current majorities in Congress?

what happened to the promise of transparency?

Someone saw through it.