Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) went off on the secret process that Republicans are using to hide their tax cuts for the rich from the American people.
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Sen. Wyden said, “Well, first of all, what we were told after the secretive process we were told that we could come on in and review and read and sign a bill in the amount of time you would normally take to go to a Portland Trailblazer game, Katy. This whole process has been a sham. The fact is this is a historically unpopular giveaway to the multinational corporations at the expense of the middle class. And the Republicans know if there’s any real sunlight on this, this bill’s going to dry up. And that’s why they’re moving with the speed of light. But I’m telling you this debate is far from over. ”
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Republicans on the conference committee refused to let Democrats see the changes that they made to the bill before the legislation was made public on Friday. Sen. Wyden added that Republicans only gave Democrats a few hours each to read the bill before it was made public.
Great pieces of legislation that will be popular with voters don’t require so much secrecy. Republicans are hiding this legislation from public view, and by the way, releasing it to the public at 5:30 PM ET on a Friday during the middle of the Christmas season to make sure that few people hear about it before the vote, because they can’t defend the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.
Sen. Wyden was correct. The process has been a sham and an insult to democracy. If voters thought the lack of bipartisanship was bad, wait until they get a taste of the real world impact of secret legislation being passed without any concern for the public at all.
The fight has only begun, and will not be over until Democrats are elected and running the Legislative Branch in a responsible way.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
