CNN carries a report of a provision that was found buried in the small print of the omnibus spending bill now before Congress that would have allowed the chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees, or their agents, to examine the tax returns of any American. The buried language was reportedly found by Democratic staffers in the Senate after the House passed the bill. The Senate has removed the language and has declared it will not pass the bill until the House has time to pass a similar fix; in the meantime, a stopgap funding measure good through December 3 has been passed.
Now, remember a little while back I mentioned that what America really needed was a true moderate ticket? Specifically, I wished it were possible to get John McCain and Bill Bradley on a Presidential ticket together. Well, if memory serves, Bill Bradley quit politics in disgust. But take a look at what John McCain had to say about this (emphasis mine):
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in a written statement that "The Republicans' lack of transparency and willingness to abuse their power is undermining democracy. It should be of grave concern to all Americans that their privacy could be invaded by such an outrageous provision."
Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the episode points up the problems created when Congress passes gigantic spending bills at the end of a session, before anyone has time to read them.
"If there is ever a graphic example of the broken system that we now have, that certainly has to be it," the Arizona Republican said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "How many other provisions didn't we find in that 1,000-page bill?"
Yeah, quite the contrast, huh? Nancy Pelosi jumps right into an accusatory slam against the Republicans, before anyone even knows who inserted the language; John McCain goes directly to the problem and openly acknowledges that the whole system is broken and needs to be fixed.
I now observe, as a final note, that NPR was mentioning the other day that John McCain is rumored to be a strong contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008.
Now there's a Presidential nomination I can get behind ... 2008 may be the first time in 20 years that America doesn't have to choose between two evils.