A CALL TO OPEN GOVERNMENT

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In this debt debate, do you really know who has offered what?  Did Obama agree on some things, and then raise the bar when they were accepted as some Republicans have said?  Or did he not?  Name three key points and the numbers involved on which the two sides disagree.  Okay, then name one, with the numbers, of course.

I have warned from the beginning that if we skirted legislative process in favor of closed-door White House meetings, we would find ourselves in the 11th hour with gimmick-filled legislation being rushed through to a panic-driven vote. … We should try the one thing that has been refused from the beginning: open hearings, regular order, and real legislative process.     Sen. Jeff Sessions (R AL).

But then, let’s follow the law–that is, the Congressional Budget Act, which the Democrats have wantonly ignored. Let’s have committee hearings and craft legislation in the light of day; let’s debate the resulting bills on the floors of the House and Senate; let’s propose and debate amendments; let’s allow the American people and third-party experts to see and to evaluate the tax and spending proposals that our representatives want to enact.  That’s the way the federal government is supposed to conduct its fiscal business.  Let’s get back to it.      John Hinderaker (Power Line blog)

Obfuscation is a tactic.  It hides the truth.  The majority of the public wants to see spending reduced.  The truth is Obama wants to see federal spending increased.  The truth hurts his cause.  But closed doors cannot block discernment.  The President is digging himself into a hole on this one.