As I'm writing this post, I'm also trying to download part A of the 500-page conference stimulus bill posted on The House Rules Committee's Web site yesterday just before midnight. I've been trying all morning and it looks like it will take at least another 30 minutes to download the 13 megabyte file.
While ordinarily I would blame network problems or my aging computer, neither seems to be at fault here. The delays are probably the result of the extremely high interest the bill has generated among the public, which the committee's Web site was likely ill-prepared to handle. Normally this would be a minor inconvenience, but since the House is expected to vote on the bill this afternoon, it saps away valuable time that could be spent breaking down the bill and examining the conference committee's changes.
The late-night posting of the bill also contrasts with President Obama's promise to use the Internet to bring an unprecedented level of transparency to the legislative process. As our sister publication National Journal has noted, Obama has already broken his campaign pledge to post all legislation for public comment five days before signing it. Now the Obama team is pressing for speedy passage of the stimulus plan, perhaps before most Americans (and us media types) have a chance to really go through it and see how our tax dollars are being used.
Republican lawmakers have been vocal about their displeasure that it took so long to post the text of the bill. "This is $25 billion per hour of reading, $208 billion per day, and $737 million per page," wrote Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., this morning on Twitter.
All of this underscores the crucial role that a stable, reliable IT infrastructure and good planning play in ensuring transparency. The Rules Committee's Web site was clearly not prepared to handle the traffic the bill generated. More thought should have been given to ensuring the bill would be posted in a place that is stable and easily accessible, given the narrow time frame and the importance of the legislation. Now we're faced with the possibility that Congress will pass this bill today before many of its members have even read it. Not exactly the change we were hoping for.
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