Beacon Street Journal

Is this a preview of what Congressmen will be hearing from their constituents during August recess when they try to defend the stunning alacrity with which major proposed health care reform legislation was produced in the House and the Senate?

The enormity of Specter’s stupidity in attempting to justify his and other lawmakers dereliction in duty is simply astounding. The fundamental issue — which voters understand — is this: is it asking too much for our lawmakers to actually read legislation which they would foist upon the public? The proposed health care legislation is a 1,000 + page legislative leviathan, and few have any idea about the specific provisions contained therein.

By his lame response, Specter acts as if a radical restructuring of 1/6 of the nation’s economy, a fundamental alteration in the relationships between citizens and their government as well as between patients and their doctors, is akin to a congressional resolution naming a park or a federal office building. If Specter is oblivious to the difference, his constituents were not, as evidenced by the resounding expression of their collective disapprobation.

Specter’s posture on the matter indicates a profound disconnect between Washington and Main Street. How does willful ignorance about the provisions of major legislation make for good law? Many voters are asking the same simple question: why the rush? And politicians, like Specter, don’t have an appropriate response. In short, voter anger with Congress on the procedure as well as the substance of the health care reform plan is palpable and growing.

I suspect that other legislators, who defend the mad rush to pass health care reform legislation without having the time to actually read the behemoth bill, will be similarly confronted by their constituents.