From Michael Barone’s in the Washington Examiner:

It is a source of continuing fascination for me to watch the interaction between public opinion, as measured in polls and election results, and the actions of members of Congress, elected in one political environment and looking in most cases to be re-elected in one that may be quite different.

Eleven months ago, after the Massachusetts Senate election, I was convinced that Democrats could not jam their health care bill through because voters had so clearly demanded they not do so. But Pelosi proved more determined and resourceful than I had imagined, and found enough House Democrats who were willing to risk electoral defeat to achieve what Democrats proclaimed was an historic accomplishment.

Pelosi and Obama predicted that Obamacare would become more popular as voters learned more about it. Those predictions were based on the theory that in times of economic distress Americans would be more supportive of or amenable to big government policies.

That theory has been disproved about as conclusively as any theory can be in the real world, and most of the Democrats who provided the key votes for Obamacare were defeated on Election Day.

(more…)

The American people have had it with “business as usual” in Congress.  They are fed up with practices such as tucking special-interest provisions into bills behind closed doors, secretly changing bills without a vote, and passing bills no one has read.  This has happened for far too long, but never before has the need for reform been more apparent than in the past year under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her Democratic majority.

Americans are demanding change in the way Congress works.  Recognizing this, I and other reform-minded congressional Republicans this week will put forth a new transparency initiative – a series of common-sense congressional reforms aimed at bringing some much-needed openness and accountability to the House.

In just 10 months, with help from the Obama White House, Speaker Pelosi’s Congress has taken business-as-usual to a devastating new extreme.  The American people have watched Congress rush through a massive “stimulus” spending bill no one read; a massive $410 billion omnibus spending bill loaded with thousands of un-scrutinized earmarks; and a new “cap and trade” national energy tax loaded with special-interest giveaways unveiled at 3:00 am on the morning before a vote.

(more…)