Getting “Pelosi’d” by the GOP?

Remember old San Fran Nan and her quote about ObamaKare: “But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what’s in it”?

It would appear the GOP is doing the same thing.

Nancy Ryan ObamaTradeTake it away Paul Ryan:

From Breitbart.com:

Paul Ryan’s Pelosi-Esque Obamatrade Moment: ‘It’s Declassified And Made Public Once It’s Agreed To’

by Matthew Boyle

Chief Obamatrade proponent House Ways and Means Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) admitted during Congressional testimony on Wednesday evening that despite tons of claims from him and other Obamatrade supporters to the contrary, the process is highly secretive.

He also made a gaffe in his House Rules Committee testimony on par with former Speaker

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) push to pass Obamacare, in which she said infamously said: “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

“It’s declassified and made public once it’s agreed to,” Ryan said of Obamatrade in Rules Committee testimony on Wednesday during questioning from Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX).

What Ryan is trying to convince House Republicans to do is vote for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) which would fast-track at least three highly secretive trade deals—specifically the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP)—and potentially more deals.

Right now, TiSA and T-TIP text are completely secretive and unavailable for even members of Congress to read while TPP text is available for members to review—although they need to go to a secret room inside the Capitol where only members of Congress and certain staffers high-level security clearances, who can only go when members are present, can read the bill.

Why is it that, more so these days, so much of government business has to be conducted in a clandestine fashion?

Am I the only one who finds this turn of events disturbing?

BZ

 

DC: going stupid once more

And again, lawmakers creating bills in DC and making decisions when they have no idea about the contents of the bills themselves.

From Breitbart.com:

Orrin Hatch on Trade Bill: ‘I Don’t Know Fully What’s in TPP Myself’

by Alex Swoyer

Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) went to the Senate floor to push for immediate consideration of a bill that would make the Obamatrade text public — right now Congress has to go to a secured room to review the text and can’t take notes out or discuss what is in it with the public. That motion failed when

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) objected, since it required unanimous consent.

The two Democrats even praised President George W. Bush, who released his free trade text in 2001. Today, President Obama, who promised to have the most transparent administration in history, is not releasing his deal.

“We’re just asking for some transparency before we have this crucial vote,” said Warren.

Well isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black.  However, continuing evidence that the Obama Administration is one of the most opaque in the history of American government.

Opacity indicates to me: corruption, secrecy, fear of the American public objecting to contents, much like the ACA — which will have even more dire future consequences for American Taxpayers.

Hatch confesses he’s ignorant and doesn’t mind making that fact public.

Ironically, Hatch also admits he doesn’t know what is in the TPP deal, while at the same time he objects to the push for more transparency prior to any crucial votes.

“I don’t know fully what’s in T.P.P. myself, and I am going to be one of the most interested people on earth when that comes, if not the most interested, you know, when they finally agree. But there is — it’s still not a completed agreement, as far as I know,” admitted Hatch.

The Dems disagreeing with Mr Obama?

“Secrecy is no good,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) responded, backing Warren and Manchin.

Now the question is: will the GOP give Obama what he wants with the trade bill?

From RollCall.com:

Could Conservatives Push TPA Over the Finish Line?

by Matt Fuller

As the House inches closer to a vote on the long-awaited Trade Promotion Authority bill, conservatives who have traditionally been hard-liners in their opposition to deals with the White House are taking a softer approach.

While many on the right are still hedging their position on the TPA, there appears to be some conservative support for the trade process legislation. And with congressional Democrats increasingly taking a firmer line against the TPA, which would give expedited consideration to the Trans-Pacific Partnership under negotiation with 11 other countries, conservatives could be the key to getting the TPA over the finish line.

Translated: those GOP members who embrace the TPP are also those who embrace the obscurity and opacity of the bill itself and the Obama Administration overall.  Good, back-slapping, go-along-to-get-along GOP critters.  Bi-partisan,

Ah, nice to know you can always count on elements of the Old Guard GOP to stand in support of their Demorat brethren and sistren.

Another in a continuing series of reasons I changed from Republican to Independent, and why I no longer write checks to the RNC.

BZ