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Obama's White House to Post Bills Online Before Congress Signs it

by Rob Walker | June 22, 2009 at 05:55 am

683 views | 6 Recommendations | 2 comments

United States President Barack Obama is re-pledging to post bills online earlier and allow for public debate before it is passed in Congress.

The promise to post any bills and allow for five days of public debate was part of Obama's election platform, and yet five months into his administration he has broken that promise numerous times.

Watchdog and advocacy groups have criticized the President for repeatedly failing to allow for timely public access to the bills. The biggest problem has been posting the bills after they've been passed, as critics say there is no use in commenting on a bill that has already gone through congress.

The white house promises to start the process earlier and post the bills sooner.

When he took office in January, his team added that in posting nonemergency bills, it would “allow the public to review and comment” before Mr. Obama signed them.

Five months into his administration, Mr. Obama has signed two dozen bills, but he has almost never waited five days. On the recent credit card legislation, which included a controversial measure to allow guns in national parks, he waited just two.

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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 06:17 on June 22nd, 2009

I think that's a promise that can't be kept most of the time. Congress makes the laws and present the bills to the President for signature. He should convince congress to post the bills prior to their debate. There should also be an executive summary for each bill and the amendments as it passes through the House and Senate. We should have something similar in Canada and Mr. Harper could make and keep this promise since he is part of Parliament.