Dead of Night, No One in Sight – Democrat Leaders Negotiate Secret Stimulus

Dead of Night, No One in Sight – Democrat Leaders Negotiate Secret Stimulus

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After months of proclamations of bipartisanship and increased transparency, the Democrat majority has fully abandoned these reasonable goals in order to bypass open conference negotiations on the “stimulus” legislation and jam the massive bill through Congress.

Late last night and in the wee hours of this morning, White House officials and House and Senate Democrat Leaders and staff met to negotiate the final stimulus legislation. Other Senators and Members of Congress – even those appointed to the House-Senate conference committee on the stimulus – were left out of the discussions and have not been informed of any details regarding the final agreement.

House Appropriations Ranking Republican Jerry Lewis, although an appointed conferee on the stimulus legislation, was not invited to the midnight conference discussions and has not been informed of the contents of negotiated compromise.  

“In the dead of night, Democrat Congressional leaders and White House officials negotiated the almost trillion dollar stimulus legislation without a scrap of public scrutiny or bi-partisan involvement,” Rep. Lewis said. “I have never before in my 30 years in Congress seen such secrecy and blatant lack of regard for the American public. This begs the question, if the Democrat majority is so proud of this stimulus legislation, what are they hiding from? ”

“This is an historic bill, with an unheard of level of federal spending. The consequences of this bill will haunt us for years to come - it will forever increase government spending, it creates new programs that will continue to exist year after year, it reverses decades of proven policy, and it will plunge our nation in record debt,” Lewis continued.

“Yet, instead of allowing reasonable discussions of these concerns in the light of day in full view of the public, Democrats have instead decided to negotiate this agreement in secret and limit all decisions regarding the final bill to two Democrat leaders and one White House official. Frankly, this is an abhorrent abuse of power and a deliberate betrayal of public trust.” Lewis said.

According to reports, the House and Senate may vote on the final conference agreement this week. However, this would be in violation of yesterday’s unanimously passed House motion to require that the conferees have access to the final text of the agreement for 48 hours prior to the final conference report being filed in the House.