Culberson

Crossposted from Sunlight Foundation

Reps. Baird and Culberson introduced legislation today that would shine more sunlight on the most fundamental work of Congress. Their bill, H. Res. 554, would require that all non-emergency legislation be posted online, in its final form, 72 hours before consideration. The bill is not a panacea for all that ails Congress, but if enacted, it will stave off many congressionally created debacles before they become law.

Most citizens, for example, would have supported amending the economic stimulus bill to remove the provision allowing AIG executives to receive retroactive bonuses. The average person probably would have preferred to let the judicial system work rather than have Congress give immunity from lawsuits to telecommunications companies that participated in a controversial wiretapping scheme. Workers hoping to retire on their 401(k) investments might have liked to have some serious analysis of whether credit default swaps ought to be regulated. And just about everyone benefit from a check on questionable and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

And I blame MaryKatherine Ham for this one. Last Friday she published the following profile quote on Facebook: MaryKatherine Ham "is wishing she were on the House floor for the "Night the Lights Went Out in Congress."

MK, this one's for you. Since it's sung to the tune of "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia", I'll include a recap of the original here for those who are not familiar with this classic little Southern Gothic ditty. The original version's by Vicki Lawrence of Carol Burnett fame, but sorry Vicki, my favorite cover is by Reba McEntire accompanying this perfectly gothic clip from the CW's "Supernatural":

 And here is my ode to Vicki, Reba and the 8/1/8 "Rock The House" Band of Brothers (and sisters):

The Night That the Lights Went Out in Congress

It was a hot summer day in Washington
The money in my wallet was almost gone
My husband told the kids we can’t drive over to Granny’s
Americans said “Drill Here, Drill Now!”
Congress said “No way, no how!”
They weren’t countin’ votes, but we were countin’ our pennies
The gavel went down and the Congress recessed
Without any energy solution addressed
John Boehner asked Speaker Pelosi to please reconsider
She shut off the cameras and turned off the mikes
On the way out the door she flipped off the lights
While Congressman Cantor continued his debate in the Chamber

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact

The press went home and C-Span died
But the folks on the street were invited inside
To listen to Republicans staying and making their stand
Like drilling offshore and up north in ANWR
Devin Nunes showed a picture of a sail-powered car
He said “I’m a Democrat, folks, here’s my energy plan”
The people in the gallery rose to their feet
Their whistles and cheers could be heard on the street
While Culberson uploaded live updates to Qik and Twitter
The Band of Brothers stayed into the night
Republicans went home, then came back to fight
For American families who’ve suffered at the pump all summer

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact

Drilling is safer than ever before
On the Outer Continental Shelf and in ANWR
We want to send a message to the world that we’re independent
“Use it or lose it” on Federal land
Can’t force hidden oil to rise out of the sand
When the oil corporations spent three trillion dollars to find it
Nuclear, coal and natural gas
Can bring us clean energy that’s going to last
With solar and wind power and new modes of transportation
Republicans are asking for a vote up or down
They’re working for us and they haven’t left town
While Democrats went on a nice long 5 week vacation

That’s the night that the lights went out in Congress
That’s the night that they killed our Energy Act
Don’t trust your vote to the Democrats in November
Cause the Speaker and the House ain’t workin’ for you, that’s a fact