Bush to charge lawmakers $200 for budget hard copy

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: The Hill

President Bush’s budget proposal has never been popular on Capitol Hill, but this year’s request comes with an added layer of insult: a price tag of $200.

In the past, the administration gave away about 3,000 free copies of its budget proposal to lawmakers, federal agencies and members of the media. But next week, when Bush submits the last of his eight budget requests to Congress, the White House only plans to post it on the Internet.

Lawmakers may read the budget online without cost. But those accustomed to holding a copy in their hands — or distributing multiple copies to their staffs to pore over the details — are going to have to dig into their own pockets and hand over some cash.

At 2,142 pages, last year’s budget would amount to nearly 10 cents a page.

“It’s pennywise and pound-foolish,” said Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.), a Democratic member of the House Budget Committee. “I don’t think as a member of Congress that I should have to take money out of my account .”

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-to-charge-lawmakers-200-for-budget-hard-copy-2008-01-30.html

[kurth]

1. Congress should charge him for room and board

just like they do in some county jails.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Privatization strikes again!

[Purveyor]

3. Oh boo-fucking-hoo... Few actually read it anyway and those that 'really care' (damn few) can print

if off the 'net'...

[samdogmom]

4. Whatever! Shut the guy down and then I'll listen!

Until then,cry on someone else's shoulder!

[LiberalFighter]

5. He doesn't want Congress to know what is in his budget.

[jlake]

6. Unless I am missing something this actually sounds like a good idea.

[cstanleytech]

8. I agree for the most part

though he if he does not distribute some printed backup copies just as a precaution it could be very foolish.

[inMD]

18. I agree

Use the computers they already have that are burning energy. We don't need to destroy trees too, along with the energy it takes to produce the paper, inks, printing and the pollutants that those processes produce.

If done properly, lawmakers should be able to make notes and desired changes to there personal copies for discussion and have them show up as changes. (we do that at work when discussing documents) Their staff can read it on line too.

Besides, coming from Bush, any smart Democrat would just toss it into the trash and write their own. If they are using it as a baseline, then they aren't doing their job. Congress has the power of the purse.

[Toots]

27. He is required by law to submit his budget to Congress

He can not charge them for something he is required to do..

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

7. More cost cutting by the Bush administration

3,000 copies of the budget x $200 per copy equals $600,000

or 4-1/2 minutes in Iraq.

[flordehinojos]

9. the man loves him the money as much as he loves him his booze.

[Historic NY]

10. So they can't see where he hides the bananas.................

with him asking for an additional 70 million for killing in Iraq the Congress should say no, because its not in the budget.

[Hekate]

11. Everything */Cheney does is about concealing information. Consider before you endorse this idea...

At over 2,000 pages, it's well nigh impossible to read online. Printing out even one copy per office would cause a logjam in terms of time and money in every single Congressional office.

The ability to obtain multiple hard copies means a Congressperson can distribute it to his/her staffers and assign sections for analysis. Each reader can write in the margins, use post-it notes for bookmarks, carry a copy around, and otherwise make free use of it.

The US Government Printing Office was founded by Thomas Jefferson in order to make information freely available not just to federal agencies but to citizens. One of the first things Bush did was privatize it. Don't you wonder why?

Hekate

[dysfunctional press]

22. if they are going to assign sections to staffers to analyze anyway...

why couldn't each staffer just print out their assigned sections...? :shrug:

i really don't have a problem with this, and think that it's in fact a very good idea.

[AdHocSolver]

23. The "devil is in the details". Reasons for having Bush print and distribute his budget.

Bushco can CHANGE the online version AFTER people print out their own copies and claim that the printed version is wrong.

Many Congress critters will try to "save" a few dollars out of their own budgets by just glancing through it online. Details that would look like they need more scrutiny when read on paper will be ignored when scanned online.

This is another tactic to hide information from the public. Would Bush hesitate to print out thousands of copies if he thought people would approve of it?

[Cobalt-60]

12. They can probably print the pages to paper

In fact I recommend it as a defense against any alterations.

[water]

13. Better out of theirs than ours...

... they should all vote "no", anyways. It was written by Bush, after all.

[radfringe]

14. technically one way or the other it still comes out of our pockets

because either the white house publishes the copies and distributes with their funds which originate from OUR taxes

or the congress critters pay for it with their funds which originate from OUR taxes

it's neither pennywise or pound foolish - it's smoke-mirrors and just another stupid stunt by the bush misadministration

bushies are trying to appear 'fiscally responsibile' without being fiscally responsible

one way the congress critters can get around the $200 ripoff is to download it and print one copy for themselves, then distribute a sections to each staffer. Or get together with other congress critters organize staffer teams to review each section - which may be a better idea because with each "team" reviewing a section as opposed to each office reviewing the entire budget - the odds of finding some shady deal or book cooking increases

[water]

15. Yes, but they won't raise their salaries to pay for this -- I hope!

[DeadManInc]

16. You need hard copies so the bastard can't

go back and change whatever he wants after being approved.

[bemildred]

17. So just ignore it. Who cares what he thinks anyway? nt

[Solly Mack]

19. snicker

They can take it or not...

Cause Bush'll keep smacking them as long as they allow it

[Javaman]

20. big deal. virtually no one in congress ever reads it anyway.

the only ones that read it are the watch dog groups.

[Hekate]

21. Please read what I said in Post #11 -- I think they're hiding things from us as usual. nt

[truthisfreedom]

24. Charge bush for his vacation trip to Israel, where he went to watch the sun rise (or set.)

His secret service detail alone must have been a billion dollars.

[ManiacJoe]

25. Misleading title on the article.

Bush is not charging any one for anything. He is just no longer buying copies and giving them away for free. Congress and anyone else can get them from the same printer Bush's office gets them from at the same price.

[sofa king]

26. They use the same damned printer!

Both use the Government Printing Office. So Asshole is trying to charge Congress for materials published by Congress--a classic Milo Minderbinder trick if I ever saw one.

But much more importantly, it's about the Bush Administration trying to charge us for a hard copy of his plan to spend our money. And more important than that, he's trying to limit the distribution of the hard copy. That raises an eyebrow with me.

Knowing these gangsters for what they are, I'm not going to be surprised when, in coming months, lawmakers and lobbyists are astounded to discover that there were significant, critical differences between the electronic and hard-copy versions of the request. I'll also not be surprised when electronic publication of the sections that cause these criminals the most trouble from activists--the scientific and environmental parts--are delayed.