When the $789 billion stimulus bill was passed, Congress rammed it through the legislative process as fast as they possibly could. No one in Congress had time to read the bill. The American public–bearing the burdens that come with the single largest government spending legislation in the history of man–had no time to become familiar with it, let alone let their congressional representatives know how they felt about it.
In other words, there was no fair or open public debate. There was no transparency into the process. We were expected to take at face value everything they were telling us. Irrespective of whether or not you feel that piece of legislation is or will be effective, a process that eliminates the public debate is fundamentally corrosive to the very foundations of democracy, and a dangerous way of governing a nation.
This goes far beyond the stimulus bill. The list of force-fed legislation is long, and constantly growing.
The Sunlight Foundation–a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization improving access to government information–has been working with members of Congress to propose legislation mandating that all new bills be posted publicly no less than 72 hours prior to the start of congressional debates. It is long overdue, but has bi-partisan support.
