[UPDATE: I just called the Committee’s office, to see if it could provide me with a copy of the rule. They transferred me to Rep. O’Flaherty’s office, where a very nice staffer told me that the Joint Committee does not have its own rules, but uses only the Joint Rules. So the policy that Representative O’Flaherty is talking about is, what, an informal policy? A whim?]
In recent days,I have been posting on the scandalous refusal of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to make written testimony available to the public.
In his recent post on the ethics sub-blog, Rep. Dan Winslow wrote:
But Committees can further refine the Rules of the House by adopting Committee rules, so that could be subject to further discussion by the Ethics Committee when (if?) we ever meet. Committees file their own rules with the House Clerk that can cover topics such as whether to disclose written copies of public testimony submitted during public hearings (see recent BMG front page posts on a similar topic in another context.)
“How interesting!” I thought. “I’ll just call the clerk’s office and see just what rules the Joint Committee on the Judiciary has filed, so that I can see precisely what rule the Committee applies to determine when testimony may or may not be made public.”
So I telephoned the clerk’s office and spoke with a helpful staffer. Here is my summary of our conversation.
Question:Hi! Is this the office that keeps the rules that individual committees file with the clerk?
Answer: Yes it is. How can I help you?
Question: I’d like a copy of the rules submitted by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, please.
Answer: Um, they’re the one committee we’re chasing. We have rules on file for pretty much every other committee. If you happen to speak with the committee, would you mind telling them that we’d like them to submit their rules? A call from the public might encourage them to get them to us.
Question: [No question. Just beating my forehead against my desk].
So there’s a rule of the Committee that says that I can’t get copies of the testimony given at a public hearing, and I also can’t get a copy of the rule that say so. Way to go, Representative O’Flaherty!
Please call your senators and representatives and tell them that this is intolerable.
Aren’t there bigger fish to fry anyway?
I just don’t see why this is an issue.
your Republican rep will probably jump all over this. Try it and let us know what you find out.
Kinda fun watching dems get pissed at dems. In fact, to use a term that gets thrown around a lot by Mr. Kravitz, it’s hilarious.
Compare Democrats’ internecine battles with Republicans’ “Eleventh Commandment“, their embrace of George W. Bush’s big-government policies, etc., and I would say that the recent discussions of Rep. O’Flaherty make the Democratic Party–or at least the BMG wing of the party–the party of intellectual honesty. I’m not sure that helps us win elections, though.
BMG and those who post have pushed to primary candidates and BMG has even endorsed the challenger. I know that this will be difficult for you to understand being Republican. But here’s the deal, having a “D” next to someones name doesn’t mean that they escape from scrutiny if their actions are questionable.
From what I’ve seen Republicans don’t care about hacks, they just want their hacks in charge. Reading here is a little different, IMO many posters want to get rid of hacks no matter party affiliation.
You guys help elect these fools and then you piss about their lack of this and that. Who let Bob DeLeo manage a group of elected officials in such a way that there is NO transparency? Yep, it’s the jerks and idiots you folks helped get elected. Once elected they fall in line behind the very people you bitch about. Hilarious!
n/t
On use of the ridiculous “drinking the kool aid” analogy.
Supporting mostly Democrats (or mostly Republicans, for that matter) is hardly analagouse to joining a cult and committing mass suicide.
Over 900 deluded, confused and terrified people – including over 300 children – “drank the (cyanide-laced) kool aid” on that fateful.
Basic respect for the dignity of human life demands that we not continue to dishonor their memory through the use of such a careless and innacurate metaphor. Doesn’t it?
To TedK:
The Mass DEMs (not BMGers), the legislature and certainly the Governor, are committed to hiring as many friends, family, and contributors as they can get away with. Its been that way for years and it aint changing. The only thing that stops the corruption is indictments.