1115.org

As far as our Legislative Branch is concerned, which of these two options do you think the founding fathers were in favor of?

1) A system where all elected representatives, be they in the House or Senate, would have an equal voice in crafting the nation’s legislation. Laws would be clearly crafted so that the lawmakers would know exactly what they are voting for.

2) A system where most of the elected representatives wouldn’t matter, since a handful of Congressional leaders would be able to modify legislation without the approval of their peers. Quietly, new provisions would be tucked into the small print of gigantic bills so that they would be voted on without review.

As far as Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert are concerned, the answer is undoubtedly “B”.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.

The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member.

(…)

But Keith Kennedy, who works for Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., as staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee, said at a seminar for reporters last month that the language was inserted by Frist and Hastert, R-Ill., after the conference committee ended its work.

“There should be no dispute. That was an absolute travesty,” Kennedy said at a videotaped Washington, D.C., forum sponsored by the Center on Congress at Indiana University.

“It was added after the conference had concluded. It was added at the specific direction of the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate. The conferees did not vote on it. It’s a true travesty of the process.”

Nicely done, and a ringing endorsement of what we try to convince ourselves is democracy. Note that this isn’t so much a partisan issue as a procedural one; Frist and Hastert’s sneakiness has angered both Democrats and Republicans alike. It’s a respect thing, and the leaders of the House and Senate have shown that they don’t respect their colleagues enough to debate the issue head-on.

(Of course, it should be mentioned how friendly Bill Frist has been to the medical and insurance industries since he got into politics—almost $275,000 in campaign donations will do that.)

The added-in legislation may be nothing but a gift to the pharmaceutical companies. It may be a positive thing in the case of a future health crisis. But the legislation’s merits aren’t the point—the shadowy, arrogant way it was brought to vote is. But when placed next to some of the other congressional abuses of late, what did you expect? Transparency? Honor? Respect for tradition?

Hell, if members of Congress can’t get those things from their own leaders, then we as citizens don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.