Five Common-Sense Steps to Change a Broken Congress

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.

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Tags: cap-and-trade, Congress, congressional reform, Earmarks, floor action
Posted Nov 18th 2009 at 8:03 am in Congress, News, Politics | 32826109 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jboehner/2009/11/18/five-common-sense-steps-to-change-a-broken-congress/Five+Common-Sense+Steps+to+Change+a+Broken+Congress2009-11-18+15%3A03%3A17Rep.+John+Boehner

Friday Funnies: Health Care Edition

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Tags: government health care, health care reform, public option, read the bill
Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 6:37 am in Big Labor, Healthcare, Political Humor | 2619827 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sgor/2009/11/06/friday-funnies-health-care-edition/Friday+Funnies%3A+Health+Care+Edition2009-11-06+13%3A37%3A04Sergio+Gor

Why We Need 72 Hours to Read Legislation, and How You Can Help

Whoever said, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” never went to Congress.

Sometime this year, perhaps very soon, both chambers in Congress likely will be asked to vote on a monumental healthcare bill — monumental in its scope, its cost, and the actual number of pages in the legislation.

And while many important questions about the final draft of the bill remain, here’s one that most Americans are shocked we even have to ask: “Will members of Congress be given enough time to read and understand the bill before casting a vote?”

The answer, based on prior behavior, is “probably not.”

Earlier this year, members, the public, and press were given 12 hours to review the 1,073-page long stimulus bill that cost future generations of Americans (since we’re borrowing just about everything at this point) $787 billion. Not a single member I talked to read it before the vote. I doubt Evelyn Wood could have even pulled it off.

The cap and trade bill, which would cost $846 billion and weighs in at 1,428 pages, was available for 16.5 hours before the House vote.

But this isn’t a partisan problem: under Republican rule in 2003, for example, the 852-page Medicare Part D bill was available for 29 hours before a vote was called on the $395 billion legislation.

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Tags: Medicare Part D, read the bill, Rep. Brian Baird, Rep. Greg Walden, Stimulus Bill
Posted Oct 20th 2009 at 10:32 am in Congress, Featured Story, News, Politics | 1830296 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/gwalden/2009/10/20/why-we-need-72-hours-to-read-legislation-and-how-you-can-help/Why+We+Need+72+Hours+to+Read+Legislation%2C+and+How+You+Can+Help2009-10-20+17%3A32%3A48Rep.+Greg+Walden+%28R-OR%29