House Democrats call for votes on bills that have not been read

We send our representatives to Washington to represent us in a responsible fashion. We expect them to be part of a deliberative body that carefully weighs the pros and cons before deciding to vote yes or no on a bill.

We certainly do not expect them to vote without even having seen the bill (or at least without their staffers having read the bill). Yet, such voting seems to be the standard operating procedure in the current Congress, particularly for large, controversial bills such as the stimulus bill and the climate change bill.

The strategy appears to be to rush the bill through before the details can be digested so opposition does not have time to coalesce.

I strongly concur with the Washington Times which, in an editorial today, decries decries this practice as undemocratic:

...As the Declaration of Independence set forth 233 years ago, our government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Such consent does not exist when legislation is purposely rammed through Congress so quickly that congressmen -- let alone citizens -- do not have time even to read it.

Welcome to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House of Representatives. The "people's House" is now a place where bills are voted on not only before legislators or the public have read them, but also before parts of the bills even have been written. Such was the case with a 300-page amendment to the cap-and-trade bill the House passed on June 26. The House leadership could not even produce this amendment on paper, in final form, before it was voted on... Full editorial