griff (2 months ago)     

Sen. Carper is to be commended for answering the question forthrightly. That said, his answer is still troubling for what it says about the entire legislative process. As we've often been told, the devil is in the details. How many times has President Obama given some assurance about pending health care legislation only for it to be proven wrong by the actual language of the bills? And how many times in the last few years has Congress confessed that certain measures were enacted by mistake -- i.e., the lawmakers didn't read the bills -- ? So, yes, let's publish the texts at least 72 hours before the votes so that folks who have the time and ability can ferret out the weasel words, decipher the subjunctive clauses, and catch the devil at his work.