Remember how the trillion dollar spending and debt package promoted under the guise of "economic stimulus" was passed without a member of Congress actually having read the bill?
If the Tea Party movement is any indication, taxpayers were really upset about that – and rightfully so.
Now, as we’re staring down the barrel of another horrible bill consisting of hundreds of pages – the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade tax hike bill – Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee prepared themselves for a possible GOP attempt to slow down the process by – rightfully – requesting a reading of the 946-page bill including major amendments.
How did they prepare themselves, you ask? Well, by hiring a speed reader. I am not kidding. As the Wall Street Journal reports on its blog:
A committee spokeswoman said the speed reader — a young man who was on door duty at the hearing as he awaited a call to the microphone — was hired to help staffers. After years of practice, the panel’s clerks can read at a good clip. But the speed reader is a lot faster, she said."Judging by the size of the amendments, I can read a page about every 34 seconds," said the newly hired staff assistant, who declined to give his name. Based on that estimate, it would take him about nine hours.