Reform: Improving or Distorting Reality?

A big issue this year has been the earmarking process. The "most honest, ethical and open Congress" has passed rules to "reform" earmarking. However, more rules and more laws are the antithesis of openness. Laws and rules simply drive unethical activity into deeper secrecy. We can see this even from this past week.

During the discussion of next week's schedule on Thursday, Minority Whip Roy Blunt pointed out "a bigger problem is this idea that we are at least starting with the first four bills, if it is appropriate for them to have these projects, that the project could not possibly occur until you go to conference."

In other words, because these new rules limit how earmarks are added during the normal legislative process, the addition of these provisions to bills is pushed to the conference committees. This is later than ever, and it severely limits the amount of time anyone--media or whoever--has to examine everything in these bills between when language is added and when it gets signed into law.

In actuality, most efforts at reform to create "transparency" in the legislative process tend to create more opportunities for political sideshows and less time for actual substantive legislating. Some are wisely beginning to see live video of floor proceedings as a further impediment to real research and debate.

In concluding the immigration debate last week, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said, "Mr. President, I have a sense of wonderment as to what the American people are thinking about what has just transpired in the Senate, if there are any people watching on C-SPAN 2. This is reputed to be the world's greatest deliberative body. But to listen to the debate for the last several days, and to the speeches here this evening, I think people wonder just what is going on."

Maybe the reform that's needed it to turn off the cameras that just add opaqueness instead of transparency.