Reading is fundamental

If you are going to make something the law of the land, it would make sense that you give everyone involved time to read through it. Republicans, however, seem to balk at this idea, causing the Democrats to once again take a common sense stand:

Democrats said Tuesday they will block quick congressional withdrawal of a provision that would give more lawmakers access to income tax returns because majority Republicans won't first promise to stop rushing bills through Congress.

Members of both parties say they object to the tax provision, calling it an infringement of taxpayers' privacy. But it has been caught up in a larger fight over Congress' habit of passing massive bills with lightning speed, giving lawmakers little time to learn precisely what they are voting on.

"This extraordinary invasion of privacy did not have the majority support of either chamber," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in announcing her plans to block House passage today. "It was a 'Saturday night massacre' on Americans' privacy made possible only by the Republicans' willingness to abuse the rules of the people's House."

As of now, I can only think of one reason to try and sneak provisions through Congress, and that would be to attach clauses to bills that have no business being there and hope that no one finds them, or when they do it's too late to deal with them. That would hint that the majority party wants to do more of this kind of thing in the future, no?

I hope this is another positive sign that the Democrats aren't simply going to roll over and play dead again for the next couple of Congressional sessions. Maybe they've learned that abject passivity isn't going to win them elections, so it is time to stand up and fight. One can only hope.