Patterico's Pontifications

2/13/2009

L.A. Times: Obama’s First Major Bill Not Transparent

Filed under: Dog Trainer,Obama — Patterico @ 10:08 pm



Give the L.A. Times some credit. They have a story up titled Missing from Congress’ stimulus negotiations: transparency:

Upending Washington’s entrenched ways of doing business is proving tougher than President Obama may have assumed.

The nearly $800-billion stimulus bill served as a test case.

During the campaign, Obama released a position paper stating his commitment to open government. As president, he said, he would not only insist on transparency in his own administration, he would press Congress to revamp its practices as well.

Obama has no constitutional authority to set rules for Congress, but he suggested he would use his influence to see to it that Congress doesn’t conduct its work “in the dead of night and behind closed doors.”

In the first major piece of legislation pushed by Obama, transparency was missing.

Indeed. Now, how about a story on something Obama does control — namely, whether he will give voters the promised five days to review this bill. (Answer: no, he won’t.)

31 Responses to “L.A. Times: Obama’s First Major Bill Not Transparent”

  1. …he would use his influence to see to it that Congress doesn’t conduct its work “in the dead of night and behind closed doors.”

    It would appear someone overestimated his influential powers.

    But that’s a good thing – as someone once wisely observed, a man’s got to know his limitations.

    Dana (137151)

  2. Eastwood/Watts 2012! They got my vote.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  3. Dana – If Congress didn’t pass that bill today the U.S. and perhaps the entire world economy was going to implode and kittens were going to die. The only way to finish the conference bill was to work “in the dead of night and behind closed doors” and without Republicans.

    You didn’t want to see those kittens die just for the sake of transparency, did you? What could go wrong?

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  4. Sunny: What does a girl have to do to go to bed with you?

    Harry Callahan: [after a pause] Try knocking on the door.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  5. Prediction: Page 8, below a story about how hard it is to get bipartisanship out of the far-right Republicans.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  6. (Answer: no, he won’t.)

    You are correct, sir! He’s gonna sign it as soon as he gets his dirty socialist hands on it.

    Pablo (99243e)

  7. “By President’s Day”… That’s monday, if you didn’t know, folks…

    God bless this open, honest, ethical and transparent congress and administration.

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  8. After four years, which is how long it will take for this bill to be read and understood, we will find out that it appoints Obama, Reid and Pelosi to the Politburo for life to run our country and the Supreme Court will be abolished.

    And all those critics calling Obama a secret muslim will have been proven wrong and all those calling him a secret commie will have been proven right. Hell, even without that provision this monstrosity proves Obama is a commie.

    MU789 (9e158a)

  9. It is a laugh how the lefty papers and news shows are hailing this as a major, historic (there’s that word again) win for Obama. What is so historic about getting legislation passed in a congress dominated by your party in both houses? The media sales job on this guy continues apace.
    And there is nothing secret about his socialistic and maybe communistic agenda. His whole life showed us that, but the country covered its eyes because they NEEDED to vote for hope and change and show the world they were not prejudiced!! So there!!

    bio mom (c25aff)

  10. We’re Screwed! No, I mean it. We’re really, really screwed. And, we’ve really f*cked up our kids on top of that.

    J. Raymond Wright (e8d0ca)

  11. Upending Washington’s entrenched ways of doing business is proving tougher than President Obama may have assumed.

    Note to LAT: I think the way he is “doing business” is intentional.

    Patricia (89cb84)

  12. The One Lightworker’s first miracle: Getting legislation written by his own party through the two houses of Congress that his party controls.

    How does he do it?!?!?!!

    Techie (6b5d8d)

  13. Those who are calling Obama a commie don’t understand. This is fascism. That’s why the president of the National Association of Manufacturers endorsed the bill. This is the opening phase of the corporate state. It is still collectivist but, as Jonah Goldberg pointed out so well in his book, fascism is socialism with private property. If you start talking about taking away private property, you will alarm those who have money and power. Mitterand found that out. You just get them to surrender it by giving them money and power. You can always take it away again when you are powerful enough.

    The whiffs of censorship that always accompany the left should help to see where we are going.

    Read this. This is why the Republican Party is the party of small business but the people who will subvert the census will soon fix that.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  14. I can understand people who are barely making ends meet becoming ridiculously foolish (politically and otherwise) when they see the economy tanking all around them. But when people who are well above that level of panic or desperation — such as well-paid executives or reps of large business groups — are behaving in a similar manner, that calls to mind the image of chickens running around with their heads cut off.

    Those “chickens” are even more susceptible to con artists. Those “chickens” — because of I-want-my-mommy fear or simple greed — are even more ideal for flim-flam politicians and policies. So I’ll mention again that the infamous crook Bernard Madoff was a big backer of Democrats/liberals, and, even without the notion of “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon,” the distance from Madoff (not to mention George Soros) to the current occupant of the White House isn’t far at all. Not one bit.

    Mark (411533)

  15. “…it appoints Obama, Reid and Pelosi to the Politburo for life to run our country and the Supreme Court will be abolished…”

    No more SCOTUS?
    And your point is?

    And, if we segue from a Democratic-Republic, to a version of Authoritarian-Fascism, the anarchy that results will preclude any need for SCOTUS, since the Judiciary will just be construed to be an enforcement arm of the Establishment, and won’t be worth a tinker’s-damn.

    AD - RtR/OS (289196)

  16. Comment by Mike K — 2/14/2009 @ 9:54 am

    It is obvious now, that not all whores wear Prada, some have on Gucci’s.

    AD - RtR/OS (289196)

  17. “How does he do it?!?!?!!”

    Techie – Is there anything he can’t do?!?!?!?! We have yet to find out. That’s why they call him The Lightworker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  18. I have noted that MSM does indeed occasionally report the truth about the ramifications of various liberal politicians’ governmental actions. I’ve seen various rare articles about how bad a certain liberal plan is or how bad a certain liberal politician is. But they invariably publish these dire warnings shortly after the liberal wins election or the liberal plan wins the process instead of publishing the information in time to effect any outcome.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  19. The only way this stimulus thingy works is if later on Baracky can lie like a dirty socialist dog about how oops it didn’t work I needs me more monies and also it’s Bush fault.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  20. Footsie, don’t bad-mouth B Hussein O. It’s because of him that unemployed people like me can legally dig our hands into your wallet.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  21. But they invariably publish these dire warnings shortly after the liberal wins election or the liberal plan wins the process

    I believe that’s just another sophisticated way for our esteemed journos to Cover Their Asses.

    Dmac (49b16c)

  22. He will ask you to sacrifice is what him and his woman said. Hop to it, mister.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  23. Comrades O, Pelosi, and Reid are the worst bunch of phonies. All you sheople who believe they give a damn about “the people” are nuts! They spent the last eight (8) years waging a civil war and it’s not over. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You stupid morons who are allowing these Socialist tyrants to grab up so much power will be held accountable by history! Do you actually think by giving the Federal Government more power and control over your lives you will be happier? America, “The land of opportunity” is all but dead! I hope all you peasants enjoy fighting over the scraps! If you don’t like what I just said to bad, at this moment there is still a constitution that guarantees free speech. The Commissars haven’t rolled out their “Fairness Doctrine” yet……

    Chucky (d4acfb)

  24. I guess that education at Occidental College (2Yrs) and Columbia College (not University- BIG difference, he refers to it as going to “Columbia” Kind of like sitting behind the Navigator and saying you flew the plane.) stood him in good stead. He didn’t go to Harvard. He went to Harvard Law School and was completely a non-starter on Review – seriously out of his league. Guess that shows now! He is still asking white women to do his work (read Pelosi this time). BTW he gets to keep that $200 million of campaign money left over since it does not fall under any fed contrib. rules or regs. Pretty slick Bammy! So Airforce one, hired John Thains decorator, sending his kids to private school and very rich. Sounds like an investment banker to me!

    GingerB (637fc2)

  25. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink ” — he’ll die first before admitting he’s thirsty — sound like anyone you know ?

    Ed (456eeb)

  26. “He is still asking white women to do his work (read Pelosi this time)”

    It really is fascinating how much he contorts the dead-enders.

    imdw (a81897)

  27. Shall we have a pool for the date of the first newspaper bailout?

    Patricia (89cb84)

  28. _______________________________

    London Times, 2-14-09:

    …Republicans are not alone in fearing that Obama’s hastily concocted package is the first step towards the creation of a quasi-socialist welfare state.

    Even Mickey Kaus, a prominent liberal blogger, has denounced what he describes as the “get more people on welfare” provisions of Obama’s bill. Writing at Slate, the political website, Kaus said: “Lack of jobs isn’t a reason to loosen work requirements . . . Have the Dems never heard of ‘workfare’?

    “Give recipients useful community service work, and if they do the work, then they get the [welfare] cash.”

    Few dispute the need for some kind of stimulus, but has Obama got the details right? The Republicans do not think so and, led by Gregg, they are already shunning the president’s bipartisan overtures.

    Perhaps more worrying for the president is that some of his natural liberal supporters are not feeling all that confident either. In a telling commentary last week, Paul Krugman, the 2008 Nobel prize-winning economist, declared that Obama’s stimulus victory “feels more than a bit like defeat”.

    Krugman added: “I’ve got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach – a feeling that America just isn’t rising to the greatest economic challenge in 70 years.”


    _______________________________

    Mark (411533)

  29. Oh, I am so devastated by Krugman’s disappointment that we are not rushing Pall-mall into the smothering embrace of Socialism.
    How beaugeois of us.

    AD - RtR/OS (fd60fc)

  30. The Stimulus pkg is so long I am sure Obama, Pelosi,Reid,Frank spent much time putting it together long before they appeared to have done it in record time. Voting on it before anyone had time to read it. What Obama wants, Obama gets IF it is approved by Pelosi and Reid. The other Democrats and all Republicans are not necessary. They are to listen and obey only. Obama has much experience in running a campaign which he did on the Senate’s time for which he was being paid. His experience as Senator was little due to his spending two years running for President. There should be some rules that one running for President must do his job as Obama did not have time for both.Two years is too long to abandon the job for which he was paid. He believes that experience as one running for office makes him able to be President.I hope he does well but it appears China &/or others may own our country.Obama claims he is a Christian yet he reads scripture laughing and mocking it, clearly he is not a believer. A believer is a follower of Christ and obeys scripture which Obama finds laughable.Wasn’t there $350.billion left unspent when Obama took office?The people follow they know not what, as sheep being led they know not where, rather like the Pied Piper.I hope Obama does not move the Census to the White House. It is clear he wants control and the say so about everything and everyone but his followers do not see this.I am concerned for our country.No one has the answer for everything but this man believes he does.We would not allow an inexperienced child tell us what to do, would we?I hear toddlers say ME CAN DO IT as we see what happens when they are allowed to have their way.It takes time for one to learn how to be patient before taking action. I have not seen any patience, it is act now for the sky is falling. The bill was signed and then we are told oh, it will be 2 years before much of this will take effect.This thing may bring about such devastation that can not be undone.I hope this is not true but doing things quickly is not always wise.Those who are older, more experienced, know this.It would have been wise to allow this bill to at least be read.No one should ever sign anything when they do not know what is in the paper they are signing.Obama had to have known all that was in the bill.

    w s (e189ab)

  31. […] five days, editors overlooked it. But hey, the bill wasn’t that important — it was just a stimulus bill costing almost a trillion dollars. The paper groused that Republicans had failed to participate in the drafting of the bill to give […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Patterico’s Los Angeles Dog Trainer Year in Review 2009 (e4ab32)


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