Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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No Time to Read Bailout Bill
Yesterday I wrote about how the recently passed stimulus bill was available for public perusal just 13 hours before Congress began considering it–and most of that time was in the wee hours of the morning. Today, as part of our campaign to urge Congress to #ReadtheBill, I want to take us down memory lane to the bailout bill passed by Congress last fall, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
Last September, the economy was in a tailspin as financial institutions teetered and fell, victims of investments gone badly. First then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson took the extraordinary step of effectively nationalizing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then, by mid-month, Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street institution, filed for bankruptcy. Two days later, the Treasury department announced it was bailing out insurance behemoth American Insurance Group. Within several days Paulson announced that he would be seeking from Congress the biggest financial bailout in U.S. history, to the tune of $700 billion, and that he wanted the help fast. “We need this to be clean and quick,” he said, warning that without the bailout, the financial crisis would soon affect ordinary Americans.
Paulson’s original proposal, just three pages long, offered little in the way of specifics or accountability. The version that the House took up for debate on September 29 had swelled to 110 pages. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had posted this text on her Web site on September 28, a step forward for transparency. Demand to see the legislation was so high that the House servers crashed. Overall, the bill was available for public persual about 12 hours before the House began consideration.
As the debate raged on, countless House members, Democrats and Republicans alike, decried the process that required them to vote on complex legislation with such an enormous price-tag and so little time for consideration. “The Bush Administration is rushing us into spending $700 billion without stopping to think things through, because there just isn’t time for thinking. They say, trust us, this is necessary,” said Pete Visclosky. “While I recognize the economic dangers this Nation faces, I deeply regret that we have accepted artificial deadlines in a rush to do something,” said Jeffrey Fortenberry. The House eventually rejected the bill by a vote of 228 to 205.
But the bailout bill did not go away. The Senate hunkered down and came up with a new version on October 1. Adding a series of tax cuts for businesses and the alternative energy industry as “sweeteners” to try to attract votes lost before, the Senate bill was now 169 pages long. Again, there was protest about the rush to pass the legislation. “Had Congress been able to use the regular committee process to craft a bipartisan and comprehensive legislation, the resulting bill may have gained my support,” said Sen. Michael Enzi. “Unfortunately, Congress has been pressured into passing this bill in two weeks by Treasury and Wall Street. A rescue plan of this scale requires a clear plan of action with a substantial chance of success. This plan has neither.”
Despite these objections, the Senate voted to approve the bill that very day, 74 to 25. The House voted two days later, just 29 hours after the legislation became available for public viewing. President Bush signed the bill into law the same day.
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Rasmussen: Americans Believe Congress in the Dark Over Stimulus Contents
On Tuesday, Rasmussen Reports released a telephone survey that shows the Americans have strong doubts about whether congressional lawmakers understand the content of the Stimulus Bill show prior to voting on it. According to the survey, which included the views of 1,000 likely voters contacted over Sunday and Monday, 58 percent of U.S. voters say most lawmakers will not understand what is in the plan before they vote on it. Only 24 percent believe most of Congress understands the contents of the 700-page-plus plan before they vote, with 19 percent not sure.
On one level this is really depressing. On the other, it’s probably an optimistic reading of the situation. How can members of Congress, much less the public, be expected to read, digest, and understand a bill of this complexity without having time to do it!? It’s ridiculous.
Sunlight has long advocated that all legislation be posted online for at least 72 hours before consideration in the House and Senate. This is a very simple, common sense idea: Posting bills online for 72 hours before consideration would give lawmakers and citizens alike an opportunity to consider and debate bills with full knowledge and consideration of the implications of the legislation with considered feedback from the public.
Please join us in asking President Obama to post the final Stimulus Bill on WhiteHouse.gov for five days before he signs it. (It looks like Congress will ignore our call to post it online before their consideration.) Go to the White House’s contact form to urge President Obama to post the final bill as approved by the House and Senate on WhiteHouse.gov. Please do it today, as this bill is moving very quickly.
Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.
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WriteToReply.org
Last week, Stephen Carter, the U.K. government’s minister for communications, technology and broadcasting, released an interim report on the state of Britain’s digital capacity with recommendations for enhancements. The report, “Digital Britain – Interim Report,” is the result of a review Carter launched in October with the mandate of providing a comprehensive analysis of Britain’s digital economy.
Bill Thompson, BBC technology columnist, criticized Carter and his agency for producing a report lacking public engagement and that “reflects an approach based around control and secrecy.” Thompson points out that it’s 72 pages into the report before the authors added an invitation with an email address (digitalbritain@berr.gsi.gov.uk) for interested citizens and organizations to offer suggestions and join the discussion. Thompson added that it would be up to Carter and his Digital Britain team to follow up on these expressions of interest, “which is nice of them, and we must just hope that Carter and his expert panel will be carefully reviewing every blog post and online comment to ensure they don’t miss anything important.”
