Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
I agree with all of this. From Heritage's excellent blog, The Foundry:
A half-dozen Republicans are lobbying Senate leaders to make the newly created Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction transparent in its operations and accessible to the American public. Their proposal includes public attendance at meetings and live television broadcasts.
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the six Republicans ask the leaders to “allow this process to unfold before the American people through an open debate.” The effort was spearheaded by Sen. Dean Heller (NV) with the backing of Sens. Kelly Ayotte (NH), John Boozman (AR), Ron Johnson (WI), Mike Lee (UT) and David Vitter (LA). Of the six, only Boozman supported the Budget Control Act.
“As we understand it, this Committee essentially has the ability to craft their list of recommendations without any joint committee jurisdictions and without an open committee process,” the senators wrote. “Furthermore, these recommendations are not subject to debate or an amendment process afforded the majority of legislation considered in the Senate.”
In addition to making the meetings open to the public and televised, the GOP senators want a strict definition of what constitutes a meeting. They propose any time a quorum of committee members meet — in person or over the phone — the public should be notified.
The senators have yet to hear back from leadership.
They should hear from us right now: Televise the Hearings! Bravo to those six senators.
- Comment (8)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
How DARE you insult The Killing!!! I love that show!
Aug '10
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
The debt ceiling debates actually had a lot in common with The Killing, what with the constant red herrings that went nowhere.
Feb '11
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
It will be entertaining to see what kind of kind of twisted logic senators cite when they oppose open televised hearings.
Aug '10
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
Will there be a red-haired beauty involved?
May '10
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
Yes, bravo!
Apr '11
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
Say it isn't so, Rob. The Killing is decent. AMC tops HBO now.
Jul '11
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
I wonder if televising these wouldn't be a mistake. Granted, I think part of this process should be public (and certainly more public than the last round was). That is, I think the 6 Republicans should come up with a detailed proposal for what they'd like the Committee to pass, get it scored by CBO, and sell it to the public. It should be a little more moderate than the Ryan budget (specifically, for Medicare I'd keep traditional Medicare as an option, along the lines of the Rivlin-Domenici proposal; this would, of course, still be a pretty strong position) but along those lines. Doing this would dare the Democrats to put something of their own on paper, which they seem quite loath to do, and would help push the discussions in our direction.
That said, making actual negotiations public might hamper getting anything done. I'm not sure what benefit there would be from it.
Apr '11
Re: Televise the Hearings! Couldn't be More Boring than AMC's "The Killing."
Rob, AMC already cancelled Rubicon. They're not gonna bring it back (sad to say).