Wednesday, September 23, 2009

3 Days to Review Bill Seems Reasonable to Me..

...But apparently not to Senate Democrats. See below. I continue to wonder "what is the rush"? and like many of my fellow citizens, I prefer that my legislators read and ponder bills before voting on them.

Senate Finance Committee Democrats have rejected a GOP amendment that would have required a health overhaul bill to be available online for 72 hours before the committee votes.

Republicans argued that transparency is an Obama administration goal. They also noted that their constituents are demanding that they read bills before voting.

Democrats said it was a delay tactic that could have postponed a vote for weeks.

The Democrats noted that unlike other committees, the Finance Committee works off conceptual language that describes policies — instead of legislative language that ultimately becomes law, and which the GOP amendment would have required.

Democrats accepted an alternate amendment to make conceptual language available online before a vote.

It's great that conceptual language will be available, but that is not the same as the actual law. What is the problem with reading the bill carefully and thinking about it before voting?


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