On May 14, 2009, U.S. House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-OH-08) endorsed a mandatory 72-hour public review rule for all major spending bills. In making his endorsement, Representative Boehner referenced this as a rule “advocated by nonpartisan organizations … a coalition of reform minded state legislators”, etc.

In an article regarding the 72-hour review plan, appearing in The Columbian on June 2, 2009, it was stated that Boehner “has claimed the idea as his own.” The article went on to state that, for the past five years, their local Congressman, Brian Baird (D-WA-03), “has been pushing for (this rule) to no avail.” When The Columbian contacted Baird on this, they reported that “he responded to the news … with a hearty laugh” and he went on to say (apparently sarcastically), “That’s an innovative idea, I should sign on to that.”

The Columbian also reported that the proposal endorsed by Boehner appears to be getting broad support. For this, they cited a White House Web Site transparent-government poll indicating 967 votes of support versus 170 votes in opposition. In light of this, it’s hard to understand why The Columbian didn’t ask Congressman Baird what he was laughing about and why he hadn’t contacted Congressman Boehner to offer his bipartisan support. Maybe it’s because they know Baird’s words don’t match his actions. An all-to-obvious example here is that there was no 72-hour public review rule applied to the ARRA, the biggest spending bill ever, but Baird voted Yes and proudly trumpeted this “decisive action” on his Official Web Site.

You’ll notice there is no statement from my Congressman (yes, I live in WA-03) Baird indicating what the wishes of his constituents are on this matter. That is the most telling aspect of the related article in The Columbian. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, my Congressman’s primary interests seem to be in “Baird Marketing Baird”. In this case, that’s demonstrated by his only concern being that he, not Boehner, gets credit for “an innovative idea.”