They Doth Protest Too Much
After their attempt to slip in a provision that would allow the GOP to see anyone’s tax records and release them publicly without regard for privacy or ethics was caught by the Democrats, they are now flailing about madly trying to claim that it wasn’t their fault, they didn’t do it, and that they are more outraged than anyone else. “I have no earthly idea how it got in there. Nobody is going to defend this,” said Senate majority leader Bill Frist on television. This comes after Senator Ted Stevens tried to pass off blame on “some staffer” who, apparently, we are to believe drafted the legal document and put it into pending legislation on a lark.
While Democrats are calling for “appropriate punishment” for those who are responsible, Republicans, represented by Frist, are saying that “accountability will be carried out” against the guilty party. But since Republicans over the past several years have demonstrated continuously and strenuously that “accountability,” in their book, means “say it’s your fault but at the same time blame someone else and receive no penalty whatsoever,” we can expect the same here. Maybe a specific staffer will be set up as the fall guy, but either they won’t get fired, or they will and then get immediately re-hired somewhere else within their organization.
Actually, on this one I believe them. I find it really really really hard to believe that they’d intentionally, knowingly put something like that into that bill.
What is easy to forget is just what an ugly process making our laws has become. It’s a jumbled mess of committees, lawyers, staff, documents flying all over (despite the advent of email and networking), and of course that’s just to get a bill to the floor.
Throw in the need to reconcile each chamber’s version of a particular bill and it can get extremely amazing that ANYTHING ever gets done at all.
All that said, here’s the thing- *someone* is responsible for these provisions being written the way they were, and *someone* is responsible for sneaking them into the fine print details of the bills as passed.
But I just can’t see the R’s being stupid enough to have the actual politicians know about this provision and intentionally have it inserted. I think it’s either some staffer trying to embarrass someone, or that it’s a staff puke or three who thought it was a good idea (which would demonstrate why they’re staff, and not actually in office themselves.)
Paul
Enumclaw, WA