John Boehner: "Secrecy, arrogance, and the abuse of power have shattered the bonds of trust between the people and their elected leaders"

What the Next Speaker Must Do

Excerpts:

Accordingly, there are several steps I believe the next speaker should be prepared to take immediately. Among them:

• No earmarks. Earmarks have become a symbol of a broken Washington, and an entire lobbying industry has been created around them ...
  
• Let Americans read bills before they are brought to a vote. The speaker of the House should not allow any bill to come to a vote that has not been posted publicly online for at least three days. ...
  
• The speaker should insist that every bill include a clause citing where in the Constitution Congress is given the power to pass it. Bills that can't pass this test shouldn't get a vote. House Republicans' new governing agenda, "A Pledge to America," calls for the speaker to implement such reforms immediately.
  
• No more "comprehensive" bills. The next speaker should put an end to so-called comprehensive bills with thousands of pages of legislative text that make it easy to hide spending projects and job-killing policies.
  
• No more bills written behind closed doors in the speaker's office. Bills should be written by legislators in committee in plain public view. Issues should be advanced one at a time, and the speaker should place an emphasis on smaller, more focused legislation that is properly scrutinized, constitutionally sound, and consistent with Americans' demand for a less-costly, less-intrusive government.
  
  

Comment: Full text of A Pledge to America (worth a read!) Full text (PDF) / More on John Boehner here. He is from my neck of the woods. I graduated from H/S in 1967, he in 1968. He went to Xavier University in Cincinnati, I went to the University of Cincinnati!