Who needs to read a bill before voting on it anyway

[IDBillzFan]

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/14/flas...-signing-bills/

 

 

Check out the video. lol

Gotta admit, it sure SOUNDS good.

[Kelly the Dog]

Id like those who are defending this nonsense to tell me why its OK that unlike all previous bills put before Congress for YEARS now, this one was distributed ON PAPER and not on an easily searchable PDF.

 

I heard the copy put on some Congresscritters websites was a barely readable faxed copy, full of cross outs, and redlines.

 

Lets hear it.....

That's funny, yesterday Rush complained that is WAS put out only in a .pdf which didn't have search functions, which of course, it does.

"In addition, they [Democrats] have reformatted the [Economic Stimulus Plan] bill -- they've made it a PDF file when they posted it. Now, for those of you that don't use computers, basically what that means is that it cannot be keyword searched. A PDF file is essentially a picture of a page. And, so, you can read every page, but you cannot keyword search it. It's not a text file as legislation normally is as posted on these public websites. They don't want anybody knowing what's in this; they want it happening as fast as possible so nobody can know what's in it." - Rush Limbaugh on Economic Stimulus Plan

[stuckincincy]

That's funny, yesterday Rush complained that is WAS put out only in a .pdf which didn't have search functions, which of course, it does.

 

Nice to see you once again, take the captious tack and miss the big picture...

[Kelly the Dog]

Nice to see you once again, take the captious tack and miss the big picture...

The big picture is that more than 90% of the bill has been in there for over three weeks and hasn't changed at all, they all know 90% of the 10% that has been changed, and it would be easy to go to what has changed and read it. They also have aides that have read the bill that can tell them what is in it.

 

The even bigger picture than that is that if the bill were 1070 words and not pages, Bozo Boehner wouldn't read it or vote for it anyway. So who cares that he didn't read it. He doesn't want to read it. He said don't vote for it before it was even put out the first time weeks ago.

[IDBillzFan]

That's funny, yesterday Rush complained that is WAS put out only in a .pdf which didn't have search functions, which of course, it does.

That's a pretty stupid comment on his behalf. Even a basic PDF reader has a search function.

[GG]

That's funny, yesterday Rush complained that is WAS put out only in a .pdf which didn't have search functions, which of course, it does.

 

Depends on the PDF. If it's a word document that was PDFed, then you can search. If it's a scanned image, then you can't search.

 

The version they put out on Fri afternoon was an image which still had handwritten markup in the liner notes. No search capability.

[stuckincincy]

The big picture is that more than 90% of the bill has been in there for over three weeks and hasn't changed at all, they all know 90% of the 10% that has been changed, and it would be easy to go to what has changed and read it. They also have aides that have read the bill that can tell them what is in it.

 

The even bigger picture than that is that if the bill were 1070 words and not pages, Bozo Boehner wouldn't read it or vote for it anyway. So who cares that he didn't read it. He doesn't want to read it. He said don't vote for it before it was even put out the first time weeks ago.

 

What do you know about Boehner? His congressional district is next to mine. I've known of him for years. His opposition to earmarks, pork.

 

So now you know his name. Do you know his legislative history?

 

Of course not. You merely exhibit the common leftist knee-jerk reaction...including your childish dismissive preface to the man's name..."Bozo".

 

But that's the alpha elitist, well-heeled liberal way, eh? Belittlement, hate, a sense of superiority along with the conning of millions and millions.

[IDBillzFan]

But that's the alpha elitist, well-heeled liberal way, eh? Belittlement, hate, a sense of superiority along with the conning of millions and millions.

Don't forget fear. Lots and lots of fear.

[Kelly the Dog]

Depends on the PDF. If it's a word document that was PDFed, then you can search. If it's a scanned image, then you can't search.

 

The version they put out on Fri afternoon was an image which still had handwritten markup in the liner notes. No search capability.

I just spent less than 15 minutes going through the first half of the bill, which is 496 pages. I looked at every single page, so 10 of those minutes were simply clicking through each page so I could see whether they had handwritten notes on them or not. The actual handwritten notes took less than 5 minutes total to read. There was one time when it was a 2-3 sentence paragraph (which I read came from Obama). 90% of the handwritten notes werent notes at all, they were just dozens of little cross outs or typos or in a couple cases, changing 100 mil to 150 mil. There were very few actual changes in the bill and all of those were just a touch up.

 

In other words, a search option would not have helped one bit. There was nothing to search.

 

Not to mention that this wasn't the final bill, if they wanted a copy of the final bill they could have gone and gotten one. This was put up so they could read it as quick as possible, before whoever typed up the final bill could transcribe those little edits.

 

This handwritten note thing is a complete and utter sham and had zero to do not understanding or not having the time or not knowing what was in the bill.

[Kelly the Dog]

What do you know about Boehner? His congressional district is next to mine. I've known of him for years. His opposition to earmarks, pork.

 

So now you know his name. Do you know his legislative history?

 

Of course not. You merely exhibit the common leftist knee-jerk reaction...including your childish dismissive preface to the man's name..."Bozo".

 

But that's the alpha elitist, well-heeled liberal way, eh? Belittlement, hate, a sense of superiority along with the conning of millions and millions.

I know his latest favorable approval rating is 21, with 47 unfavorable. I have been watching him spew nonsense for years.

 

Besides, your original post was idiotic. You said I missed the big picture but all I was doing was responding to a single post by a single poster about a single item with a single answer. That's what you do in a lot of these threads on the Internets. There are big picture posts and there are little picture posts and there are single snapshot posts. I was only responding to RK's claim of no pdf. There isnt any reason whatsoever to bring up the big picture.

[blzrul]

I know his latest favorable approval rating is 21, with 47 unfavorable. I have been watching him spew nonsense for years.

 

Besides, your original post was idiotic. You said I missed the big picture but all I was doing was responding to a single post by a single poster about a single item with a single answer. That's what you do in a lot of these threads on the Internets. There are big picture posts and there are little picture posts and there are single snapshot posts. I was only responding to RK's claim of no pdf. There isnt any reason whatsoever to bring up the big picture.

Kelly, most people on this board wouldn't know the big picture if it bit them on their arse.

[GG]

I just spent less than 15 minutes going through the first half of the bill, which is 496 pages. I looked at every single page, so 10 of those minutes were simply clicking through each page so I could see whether they had handwritten notes on them or not. The actual handwritten notes took less than 5 minutes total to read. There was one time when it was a 2-3 sentence paragraph (which I read came from Obama). 90% of the handwritten notes werent notes at all, they were just dozens of little cross outs or typos or in a couple cases, changing 100 mil to 150 mil. There were very few actual changes in the bill and all of those were just a touch up.

 

In other words, a search option would not have helped one bit. There was nothing to search.

 

Not to mention that this wasn't the final bill, if they wanted a copy of the final bill they could have gone and gotten one. This was put up so they could read it as quick as possible, before whoever typed up the final bill could transcribe those little edits.

 

This handwritten note thing is a complete and utter sham and had zero to do not understanding or not having the time or not knowing what was in the bill.

 

Oh, I see. Now that the slam on the search feature is refuted, the argument turns into, "no biggie, they still had plenty of time to read it." The fact is that the bill was finalized minutes before the House voted on it. If you think that this legislation was so critical that they couldn't take the weekend to put it out for the electorate to see, then bravo. I, and the 300 pt Dow drop today, think otherwise.

 

Never mind the campaign pledge that all bills would be available for public review for 5 days. Unless, of course you believe the new POTUS favorite caveat - "unless I think it's absolutely necessary" which is always written in tiny print.

 

So, please offer me the daily indulgence on this change that we are supposed to believe in.

[Kelly the Dog]

Oh, I see. Now that the slam on the search feature is refuted, the argument turns into, "no biggie, they still had plenty of time to read it." The fact is that the bill was finalized minutes before the House voted on it. If you think that this legislation was so critical that they couldn't take the weekend to put it out for the electorate to see, then bravo. I, and the 300 pt Dow drop today, think otherwise.

 

Never mind the campaign pledge that all bills would be available for public review for 5 days. Unless, of course you believe the new POTUS favorite caveat - "unless I think it's absolutely necessary" which is always written in tiny print.

 

So, please offer me the daily indulgence on this change that we are supposed to believe in.

This point is only that they already knew 90% of what was in the bill, they easily could have found out from Collins and Snow and Specter what they agreed on in the change with a 5 minute phone call that probably happened, and that all the theatrics about not knowing what they were voting on and what was in there was just that -- theatrics.

 

There were a bunch of last minute subtractions and additions, including about 6 billion for more high speed rail, but what was changed could have been learned in a matter of minutes. And there were three Republicans there that knew every single thing that was changed and they said okay, we'll go along with it.

 

The other Reps already had their chance to voice their opinion on the vote and the contents of the package. They didn't like it and didn't want to vote for it. That's fine, and their right and fully expected. They may even turn out to be right in the long run. But to say this was jammed down their throats at the last second and they didn't even know what they were supposed to vote on is not only untrue, but didn't matter one bit. There wasn't a 1-in-1000 chance they were going to vote for it. And it wasn't going to change the outcome. That stuff happened weeks ago, not at the last minute.

 

EDIT: Furthermore, people act like the 5 day idea was a matter of policy instead of courtesy. It's for "non-emergency" bills so the public can read the bills and comment on them on the White House website. That's all. That's all they said.

 

Granted, it was a stupid thing for them to say as an absolute. They should have simply said, "We're going to try to get these out there well before the voting so the public can discuss the pros and cons", rather than say all non-emergency bills will be up there 5 days, because that simply wasn't going to happen.

 

But people are idiots and totally irrational if they ever thought this was supposed to have an actual influence on the signing of these bills. You think the public is going to go to the White House website as soon as the bill is put up there, read it online, research it, write their comment on the White House website, it's going to be read immediately by staffers manning the site, they are going to rush to Rahm Emmanuel or some other higher up and inform the POTUS of the instant public outrage and Obama is going to run to a red phone directly linked to the Senate and House floors and scream "STOP THE PRESSES! We can't sign this bill as is!" All within four days? It's ridiculous. The idea is a courtesy and part of a multi-pronged effort by the administration to get people to become more involved with government and more informed on the issues and feel like they are part of the give and take that the Internet provides.

[RkFast]

This point is only that they already knew 90% of what was in the bill, they easily could have found out from Collins and Snow and Specter what they agreed on in the change with a 5 minute phone call that probably happened, and that all the theatrics about not knowing what they were voting on and what was in there was just that -- theatrics.

 

There were a bunch of last minute subtractions and additions, including about 6 billion for more high speed rail, but what was changed could have been learned in a matter of minutes. And there were three Republicans there that knew every single thing that was changed and they said okay, we'll go along with it.

 

The other Reps already had their chance to voice their opinion on the vote and the contents of the package. They didn't like it and didn't want to vote for it. That's fine, and their right and fully expected. They may even turn out to be right in the long run. But to say this was jammed down their throats at the last second and they didn't even know what they were supposed to vote on is not only untrue, but didn't matter one bit. There wasn't a 1-in-1000 chance they were going to vote for it. And it wasn't going to change the outcome. That stuff happened weeks ago, not at the last minute.

 

EDIT: Furthermore, people act like the 5 day idea was a matter of policy instead of courtesy. It's for "non-emergency" bills so the public can read the bills and comment on them on the White House website. That's all. That's all they said.

 

Granted, it was a stupid thing for them to say as an absolute. They should have simply said, "We're going to try to get these out there well before the voting so the public can discuss the pros and cons", rather than say all non-emergency bills will be up there 5 days, because that simply wasn't going to happen.

 

But people are idiots and totally irrational if they ever thought this was supposed to have an actual influence on the signing of these bills. You think the public is going to go to the White House website as soon as the bill is put up there, read it online, research it, write their comment on the White House website, it's going to be read immediately by staffers manning the site, they are going to rush to Rahm Emmanuel or some other higher up and inform the POTUS of the instant public outrage and Obama is going to run to a red phone directly linked to the Senate and House floors and scream "STOP THE PRESSES! We can't sign this bill as is!" All within four days? It's ridiculous. The idea is a courtesy and part of a multi-pronged effort by the administration to get people to become more involved with government and more informed on the issues and feel like they are part of the give and take that the Internet provides.

 

OK, if this bill was such a big "EMERGENCY!!!!!" to sign, how come we're now told to be "patient" to see results?

 

How come it was intended to "create" 4,000,000 jobs, but now its "create and/or save" 4,000,000 jobs?

 

And finally....why is this bill essentially rolling back the 1996 Welfare Reform Act?

 

And Id like REAL answers, not Pelosi answers.

[GG]

This point is only that they already knew 90% of what was in the bill, they easily could have found out from Collins and Snow and Specter what they agreed on in the change with a 5 minute phone call that probably happened, and that all the theatrics about not knowing what they were voting on and what was in there was just that -- theatrics.

 

There were a bunch of last minute subtractions and additions, including about 6 billion for more high speed rail, but what was changed could have been learned in a matter of minutes. And there were three Republicans there that knew every single thing that was changed and they said okay, we'll go along with it.

 

The other Reps already had their chance to voice their opinion on the vote and the contents of the package. They didn't like it and didn't want to vote for it. That's fine, and their right and fully expected. They may even turn out to be right in the long run. But to say this was jammed down their throats at the last second and they didn't even know what they were supposed to vote on is not only untrue, but didn't matter one bit. There wasn't a 1-in-1000 chance they were going to vote for it. And it wasn't going to change the outcome. That stuff happened weeks ago, not at the last minute.

 

I thought the point was to laugh at Rush that he didn't know about a PDF search feature? Or was it about giving the people time to look at the bill? Or was it about talking about bringing change and a new approach to bipartisanship?

 

You may think that the additions and subtractions are minute. Of course a billion here or there is minor when it's compared to nearly a trillion total. But those seemingly minor adds and subtractions have the potential to totally derail the plan. Feel free to jump on the populist bandwagon, but don't for a moment think that Dodd's & Barney's reinsertion of executive comp limits are benign.

 

Also, don't for a moment think that the killing of the Colombia trade deal won't have an impact. But it's a piddly country in LatAm, so why should it have any impact on USA's overall trade relations and open trade really isn't that important in restimulating the economy.

 

You can go ahead and pat yourself & the wise Congressmen on this bill.

[IDBillzFan]

But people are idiots and totally irrational if they ever thought this was supposed to have an actual influence on the signing of these bills. You think the public is going to go to the White House website as soon as the bill is put up there, read it online, research it, write their comment on the White House website, it's going to be read immediately by staffers manning the site, they are going to rush to Rahm Emmanuel or some other higher up and inform the POTUS of the instant public outrage and Obama is going to run to a red phone directly linked to the Senate and House floors and scream "STOP THE PRESSES! We can't sign this bill as is!" All within four days? It's ridiculous. The idea is a courtesy and part of a multi-pronged effort by the administration to get people to become more involved with government and more informed on the issues and feel like they are part of the give and take that the Internet provides.

The idiocy, then, is on the person who said the public would have five days to view any new bills. I mean, this is PRECISELY what Obama said; folks like you and I can go to the site and review the bills. And you really can't place the caveat on it that "this is an emergency" because...well...how much of an emergency is it if the new President can take a vacation before signing the bill? (Or maybe he held up the signing so he could use the first pen Abraham Lincoln used to sign his first bill.)

 

Now, since we're idiots for believing that would happen, will we also be idiots if we hold him to his word that once this bill is signed, we will be able to go to a website and view specifically WHAT COMPANIES are getting awarded contracts as a result of this bill? Are we idiots if we hold him to his word that we be able to go to his website and see specifically WHO is getting pork funding, even though the pledged "No pork"?

 

So we're told these things will happen for the sake of transparency, but now you're telling us we're idiots if we think these things will happen.

 

Which means, I guess, that we're idiots if we ever believe anything this president says.

 

Hey..wait...we DO agree on something after all.

[Dwight Drane]

OK, if this bill was such a big "EMERGENCY!!!!!" to sign, how come we're now told to be "patient" to see results?

 

How come it was intended to "create" 4,000,000 jobs, but now its "create and/or save" 4,000,000 jobs?

 

Obama the Slickster!

 

Let's say someone weighs 300 lbs.

The insurance company says they won't insure them unless they lose 100 lbs because they are afraid they are a walking timebomb.

The 300lb'er tells the insurance company, "I will go on a diet where I will lose, or not gain 100 lbs."

Does the insurance give the person coverage?

 

Welcome to our Craptastic land of Chaos......

 

I'm not even going to make myself sick by reading that 1,000 page disaster. I'm just counting down the days until the people finally understand what is going on and start dragging these clowns down the street by their hair. Both sides.

[Kelly the Dog]

The idiocy, then, is on the person who said the public would have five days to view any new bills. I mean, this is PRECISELY what Obama said; folks like you and I can go to the site and review the bills. And you really can't place the caveat on it that "this is an emergency" because...well...how much of an emergency is it if the new President can take a vacation before signing the bill? (Or maybe he held up the signing so he could use the first pen Abraham Lincoln used to sign his first bill.)

 

Now, since we're idiots for believing that would happen, will we also be idiots if we hold him to his word that once this bill is signed, we will be able to go to a website and view specifically WHAT COMPANIES are getting awarded contracts as a result of this bill? Are we idiots if we hold him to his word that we be able to go to his website and see specifically WHO is getting pork funding, even though the pledged "No pork"?

 

So we're told these things will happen for the sake of transparency, but now you're telling us we're idiots if we think these things will happen.

 

Which means, I guess, that we're idiots if we ever believe anything this president says.

 

Hey..wait...we DO agree on something after all.

I can put the caveat on "non-emergency bills" because that is exactly what the website says about what they were going to do. That was always the idea, and the exact words of the actual description of what they were going to do. Maybe you should look it up.

 

So are you telling me that you actually thought the 5 day idea was so that the public could see the plans before they were voted on, and if they didn't like them, voice their concerns, the Congress in 1-2 days would gather up all those notes from the suggestion box, and then alter their bills so the voice of the citizen could be heard? And you thought that Obama himself actually believed the public would have an actual say in these bills if they didn't like them. You didn't believe that would happen, so what exactly did you believe? You're just taking a cheap shot saying Obama said it would be transparent and we would all get a say when that isn't, wasn't, and never was the idea or the case behind the website. All it was supposed to be, and all they ever talked about it being was a place that the public can see them and then talk about them.

 

What people arent bringing into the equation is that this whole idea is part of the master idea of keeping the Internet going with back-and-forth communication between people that voted for him, and new people that come to the White House website that they can collect email addresses from and continually keep them involved. That was the reason the 5 day thing was put there and they talk about it all the time, and there are all kinds of elements to that plan that are also included. It's rather ingenious if you ask me. And it's one of the major reasons that in all likelihood he's going to continue to have great approval ratings.

 

Not to mention that I already said, in the post you quoted of mine, that it was a dumb idea for Obama and his team to say it in an absolute, that all non-emergency bills would be put online first. They should have just said we will try and left it at that. They just made a mistake.

 

And so yes, because you obviously weren't thinking of what was actually going on, and what the actual purpose of the website was, that you're an idiot for thinking otherwise. No one ever said that the public was going to have a say in these bills, it was just for people to know about them and talk about them. They have been talking about the specifics and merits of this plan, as well as the stupid elements of it, a lot of which are gone, for weeks now.

 

Oh, and I'm not positive about this, but I think you are going to be able to see what companies get the money from these "pork" projects. I'm not quite sure how much detail they will give but I think that kind of stuff, like who got the contract, will be in there.

[IDBillzFan]

I can put the caveat on "non-emergency bills" because that is exactly what the website says about what they were going to do. That was always the idea, and the exact words of the actual description of what they were going to do. Maybe you should look it up.

 

So are you telling me that you actually thought the 5 day idea was so that the public could see the plans before they were voted on, and if they didn't like them, voice their concerns, the Congress in 1-2 days would gather up all those notes from the suggestion box, and then alter their bills so the voice of the citizen could be heard? And you thought that Obama himself actually believed the public would have an actual say in these bills if they didn't like them. You didn't believe that would happen, so what exactly did you believe? You're just taking a cheap shot saying Obama said it would be transparent and we would all get a say when that isn't, wasn't, and never was the idea or the case behind the website. All it was supposed to be, and all they ever talked about it being was a place that the public can see them and then talk about them.

 

What people arent bringing into the equation is that this whole idea is part of the master idea of keeping the Internet going with back-and-forth communication between people that voted for him, and new people that come to the White House website that they can collect email addresses from and continually keep them involved. That was the reason the 5 day thing was put there and they talk about it all the time, and there are all kinds of elements to that plan that are also included. It's rather ingenious if you ask me. And it's one of the major reasons that in all likelihood he's going to continue to have great approval ratings.

 

Not to mention that I already said, in the post you quoted of mine, that it was a dumb idea for Obama and his team to say it in an absolute, that all non-emergency bills would be put online first. They should have just said we will try and left it at that. They just made a mistake.

 

And so yes, because you obviously weren't thinking of what was actually going on, and what the actual purpose of the website was, that you're an idiot for thinking otherwise. No one ever said that the public was going to have a say in these bills, it was just for people to know about them and talk about them. They have been talking about the specifics and merits of this plan, as well as the stupid elements of it, a lot of which are gone, for weeks now.

 

Oh, and I'm not positive about this, but I think you are going to be able to see what companies get the money from these "pork" projects. I'm not quite sure how much detail they will give but I think that kind of stuff, like who got the contract, will be in there.

I know you spend an inordinate amount of time interpreting every single nook and cranny that bleeds from our new president's mouth to ensure that he is still good in your book, but you ain't America, K-dog. America hears the man make promises and take him at his word. They hear "you'll be able to review every bill five days before I sign it" and take him at his word. They don't go back to his website for better clarification about something as ridiculous as "an emergency clause" like you do. They don't revisit his words at every level and parse them to the extent that you can interpret his meaning in 18 different ways in hopes of finding the one way that serves your purpose, all while throwing in a mild little dig ("They just made a mistake.") to somehow show that you're not as completely infatuated with him as your posts would prove.

 

They just don't. I know YOU think they do, but they don't. It's easy for you to say "Oh, they made a mistake," but American won't tolerate it as long as you obviously will.

 

Obama has the Hot Pockets crowd believing everything he says...for now, and while he obviously covers his own ass with stupid little caveats that the Peggys of the world pay no attention to, we both know it's how you work the crowd. Sprinkle pretty little flowers all over the place and hope that no one smells the fertilizer.

 

I know it. You know it. And more and more people are getting to know it.

 

He's full of shchitt, K-dog. Lots and lots of shchitt. I appreciate how very deeply you defend the letter of of his words or "what he really meant," but he's a manipulative little B word, and the cloud he floats on is getting heavier by the minute.

 

At this juncture I am actually convinced the media will turn on his faster than either of us would have ever expected. Which is saying a lot because I think TV Guide, People and US still have him scheduled to be on their next eight covers. And there are still a few commemorative coins and plates to unload.

[Kelly the Dog]

I know you spend an inordinate amount of time interpreting every single nook and cranny that bleeds from our new president's mouth to ensure that he is still good in your book, but you ain't America, K-dog. America hears the man make promises and take him at his word. They hear "you'll be able to review every bill five days before I sign it" and take him at his word. They don't go back to his website for better clarification about something as ridiculous as "an emergency clause" like you do. They don't revisit his words at every level and parse them to the extent that you can interpret his meaning in 18 different ways in hopes of finding the one way that serves your purpose, all while throwing in a mild little dig ("They just made a mistake.") to somehow show that you're not as completely infatuated with him as your posts would prove.

 

They just don't. I know YOU think they do, but they don't. It's easy for you to say "Oh, they made a mistake," but American won't tolerate it as long as you obviously will.

 

Obama has the Hot Pockets crowd believing everything he says...for now, and while he obviously covers his own ass with stupid little caveats that the Peggys of the world pay no attention to, we both know it's how you work the crowd. Sprinkle pretty little flowers all over the place and hope that no one smells the fertilizer.

 

I know it. You know it. And more and more people are getting to know it.

 

He's full of shchitt, K-dog. Lots and lots of shchitt. I appreciate how very deeply you defend the letter of of his words or "what he really meant," but he's a manipulative little B word, and the cloud he floats on is getting heavier by the minute.

 

At this juncture I am actually convinced the media will turn on his faster than either of us would have ever expected. Which is saying a lot because I think TV Guide, People and US still have him scheduled to be on their next eight covers. And there are still a few commemorative coins and plates to unload.

Actually what I'm saying is people don't usually think about what they hear, and they often don't listen to what is actually said. He said his administration was going put the bills online 5 days before he signs them. And for the vast majority of his time in office, I bet that's exactly what happens. His administration isn't going to be able to do it all the time, and a few times, when they need to get something out quick, they won't. THAT was their mistake. But what do you think "transparent" means in this case? Seriously?

 

Liar.

 

 

Not to mention that he signed the bill today Tuesday and Friday it was finalized and voted on, which is, what, 4-5 days?

 

The first time he broke that rule I thought it was just a dumb thing to do because they didnt need to hurry the Ledbetter bill. It didnt really gain them any advantage, they just wanted to get it signed because they liked it and could get good press. But they broke their own self-made rule. That was dumb IMO because it was unnecessary, not because they are liars and you can't trust them. That's just a stupid way to look at it (not that they arent liars, they are, they're politicians, but not this time). There is nothing nefarious about it whatsoever in that case.

 

Obama, Axelrod, Gibbs, Jarrett, Biden, probably Plouffe (I assume even though he's not there but was responsible for exactly this kind of stuff) and a bunch of others on his press team just decided this would be a good thing to do to 1] get people involved online and 2] to make Obama look good and look like a good guy and look like he's being open whether he is or not. I would bet anything that was the reason, and I believe it was 100% a political calculation to get a desired result. I also think it's a great idea. I think it's in the public's interest to have a place that they can go to to read these bills. But all he ever promised was that they are going to put them out there and 95-99% of them will be.