I'm headed to D.C. today for a daytrip. Natasha and I have to run a bunch of business-related errands to complete. Also, I have to keep unfairly criticizing Obama while jousting at imperfectly progressive windmills meet with some members of his transition team. Although I had difficulty sleeping tonight trying to think of what to say at the meeting, but I think I have finally settled on something: public access to the stimulus package.
Right now, there is a lot of talk of a stimulus bill to help put the economy back track. However, there is one problem with all of this discussion: there is no stimulus bill. The amount has not yet been decided upon. The details have not been worked out. The relevant congressional committees have not seen drafts, because no drafts have been written. The public certainly hasn't seen anything, and likely won't see anything for a long time. And, when the public does get to finally see something, in all likelihood, there won't be enough time to read the entire thing before it is voted on by Congress. As I know from being both a student and a teacher for a long time, it's kind of hard to debate, much less discuss, something you haven't even read.
This problem is not specific to the stimulus bill. In fact, every major spending bill, from the stimulus to the Farm Bill to departmental appropriations bills will be absolutely enormous and be presented to the public with little or no time for any real public input. Obama has previously pledged to help solve this problem by posting "every piece of non-emergency legislation online for five days before he signs it so that Americans can comment." That's cool, but really, it is not adequate in this case. Obama isn't going to veto the stimulus package as his first act in office, as that would be political suicide. So, giving the public five days to comment on legislation that has already passed Congress and is certain to be signed does not amount to any meaningful input. Further, this legislation will probably fall into the "emergency" category, so we might not even get the five-day waiting period.
Here's my idea: the stimulus package should be posted online for five days before it is voted on in the House. That is really the only way that the public will have an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on this bill. For a piece of legislation this important, we need to know what is, and what is not, included in the bill. This is actually a perfect task for a crowd-sourcing community like the netroots, and much better than the talking point reinforcing salesperson job Democratic leaders typically expect from us. It would be a nice extension of people-powered, grassroots activism into governing.
Anyway, that's my idea. What would you say if you were involved in a transition meeting? It isn't easy to come up with something that might actually make a difference, but I am very interested in reading your thoughts. |
