Thursday, February 12, 2009
BARACK OBAMA
Why Are Lobbyists Getting Copies of the Stimulus Before Congressional Offices?
This development, reported by U.S. News and World Report, illustrates another reason why no real change has yet to come to Washington:
Congressional offices are being pressed for details of the deal but don't have the bill yet.
We're receiving E-mails from Capitol Hill staffers expressing frustration that they can't get a copy of the stimulus bill agreed to last night at a price of $789 billion. What's more, staffers are complaining about who does have a copy: K Street lobbyists. E-mails one key Democratic staffer: "K Street has the bill, or chunks of it, already, and the congressional offices don't. So, the Hill is getting calls from the press (because it's leaking out) asking us to confirm or talk about what we know—but we can't do that because we haven't seen the bill. Anyway, peeps up here are sort of a combo of confused and like, 'Is this really happening?'" Reporters pressing for details, meanwhile, are getting different numbers from different offices, especially when seeking the details of specific programs.
02/12 04:37 PM
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