February 12, 2007

No One’s Guarding the Hen House

“The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C. And the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.” – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Election Night, November 7, 2006

What a difference three months – and a taste of power – makes. Speaker Pelosi may have banned smoking in the Capitol’s corridors, but under liberal leadership the backroom is wide open for business. Members of the Bush administration are unconscionably collaborating.

A February 8 Wall Street Journal article detailed testimony given that day by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson before the Senate Budget Committee on President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget proposals, revenue proposals and the current state of the economy. In response to a question by Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) on proposals to fix our near-bankrupt entitlement programs, Paulson stated, “Let’s take the politics out of this . . . without prejudging outcomes, without trying to negotiate this in a public arena.”

Senator Conrad responded, “I think that is a very constructive statement. I am absolutely persuaded you come to this with sincerity.”

Paulson and Conrad are sincere all right. They are sincere in their belief that the elected representatives of U.S. citizens should not have to negotiate solutions to our nation’s largest fiscal challenges in public. In fact, the backroom meeting occurred before the Budget Committee hearing even started. Senator Conrad stated in his opening remarks, “I apologize for being somewhat tardy in beginning this hearing…I think we have succeeded every morning, but we wanted to have an informal discussion with the Secretary and see if we couldn’t have a constructive discussion about a way forward.”

Was Paulson signaling to Conrad and the Democrats that he favors the cut-and-run strategy on restructuring Social Security and Medicare – cut benefits and run up our taxes? Is President Bush willing to acquiesce to the big government liberals and abandon his personal retirement accounts? We don’t know, and we may not find out until a backroom-brokered bill hits the House and Senate floors for a vote.

The backroom shenanigans continued last week, with the blessing of the Bush administration, when details of Speaker Pelosi’s request for unfettered access to an Air Force jet saw the damning light of day. Pelosi was indignant that Defense Department officials leaked information about her request for a 45-seat military plane, replete with an entertainment system, bedroom and 16-member crew.

A Washington Times article quoted Pelosi as saying, “It still raises the question, why would the Department of Defense not be denying this information that has been conveyed?” Possibly, Madam Speaker, because the leaked information about your request is true.

When reporters asked White House press secretary Tony Snow about the plane request he responded, “We think it’s appropriate, and so I – again, I think this is much ado about not a whole lot. It is important for the speaker to have this kind of protection and travel. It was certainly appropriate for Speaker Hastert.”

I respect Tony Snow, and understand that his job is to voice the administration’s position on issues, but the administration is quickly losing any political capital it had with its supporters in the public and in Congress. Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) had access to a 12-seat commuter jet, not a behemoth Boeing 757. More important, Pelosi and her fellow liberals have been, to put it mildly, constant critics of Bush and every one of his foreign and domestic policies. Is the administration’s support of Pelosi’s request part of a larger deal to secure her blessing on increased troops in Iraq and amnesty legislation for illegal aliens? Again, we won’t know until the bills hit the floor.

Though liberals ran in 2006 on a promise to eliminate earmarks and make the appropriations process more open to the public, a February 9 Wall Street Journal report found that no plates in Washington will be deprived of their pork. The report states, “Behind the scenes, they’re working feverishly to keep the earmarks rolling, this time using a technique outside of the legislative process and hidden from public view.”  

Instead of writing their pork projects into the upcoming spending bills, members of Congress are calling federal agency and department heads, demanding that earmarks designated in prior spending bills are fully funded again this year. The Journal report says, “There might not be a single official earmark in the 2007 spending bill, but thousands are in the works all the same.”

Liberals from both political parties are desperate to secure and hold the reins of power for the long-term. They know their failed policy ideas would never survive public scrutiny and debate, so they have scattered like cockroaches to cut deals in the shadowy backrooms of the People’s House.

Speaker Pelosi’s promise of the most open Congress in history must depend on one’s definition of open. Right now, it’s not open to the public.

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