…to wit, providing fully justified grief to people who really deserve it. In this particular case he’s making the clock run out on a bill that had some disclosure provisions stripped from it; as has been noted before, there are many ways that an individual Senator can shut things down in the Senate, and Coburn is happy to explore them in the cause of transparency. The Democrats are of course mad at Coburn for it, because they can’t be mad at the President for making transparency such an important part of his campaign (if not his actual administration), and they can’t be mad at themselves for dumping out the provisions in the first place.
And why did they do it? The answer is classic Dizzy City:
The top House negotiator, Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., didn’t recall why his side insisted that the Senate drop the transparency provision. But a Democratic aide said later that there is concern that making every report public automatically might cause agencies to be less candid in their dealing with the Appropriations Committee. The aide required anonymity to speak candidly.
I swear, there’s something in the drinking water here.
(H/T: Instapundit)
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
“I swear, there’s something in the drinking water here.”
Yes: lead. [For example, see http://www.wri.org/stories/2008/03/lead-our-water-a-washington-dc-mystery%5D