Pelosi's Saturday Vote Violates Transparency Promise

The Weekly Standard reports it had the following exchange with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, in which the Speaker committed to post the text of the final House Democrat health bill online for 72 hours before a vote:

TWS: Madam Speaker, do you support the measure to put the final House bill online for 72 hours before it’s voted on at the very end?
PELOSI: Absolutely. Without question.

The Rules Committee has yet to release the rule on the bill without which it cannot move to the floor. The rule will determine which amendments will be ruled in order, and only then can one talk about a “final” bill.

Critics not only point to the fact that the Speaker is reneging on her 72-hours promise, but also to the fact that it is unclear whether Medicare's chief actuary will have the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cost estimate of the House healthcare reform bill before the Saturday vote. They argue that while the CBO cost estimate may be the binding one, a decision on a packet of this magnitude should not taken without weighing all facts, including the CMS estimate.

Said ATR president Grover Norquist:

If Speaker Pelosi agreed to post the final bill text online, saying ‘we posted the managers’ amendment is simply not good enough. Taxpayers don’t understand the rush, and are getting increasingly suspicious. If this bill was really as good for America as the Speaker claims, it should be able to stand the test of daylight – after all facts are laid out on the table. But obviously, the Speaker is worried that the more the American people learn about her package, the less they will like it – and that’s why she’s hell-bent on ramming it through on Saturday.

Click here for the press release.

Tags: Transparency Federal