The other party did it first! Do two partisan wrongs make a right? Retweet

Yesterday, we shared how Elizabeth Warren was likely both cynically and hypocritically using the “read the bills” concept for temporary political advantage. We included a mirror video from a Republican House leader, saying almost exactly the same things a few years ago. It’s eerie how similar the two videos are.

But in the last 24 hours, we’ve been repeatedly told, “Well, the Democrats did it first.”

Worse, it’s been suggested that we didn’t “bitch” when the Democrats rushed an unread bill out during the Obamacare saga.

That’s simply not accurate. We were advancing our “Read the Bills Act” long before Obamacare, and we were very critical of Democrats for not letting people read the bill before they passed it. Visit our blog archives. You’ll see we spoke out loudly at the time. And we’ve spoken up in several instances since about unread Obamacare. Even more importantly…

It was thanks to our efforts that “Read the Bills” became a Tea Party slogan and meme.

Remember the Tea Party, the collection of Americans that promised we could do better with outsiders instead of Democrats?

Some are now using the fact that both parties do it as an excuse for inaction.

Others have suggested that if the Democrats do it, then they have no right to complain when the Republicans do it.

Well, I guess we can then declare…

“The Tea Party is dead. We can tell by the stench of its rotting principles.”

Partisanship is actively corroding moral principle, as it always does.

Which makes me grateful that we have so many people of principle on our list. People who don’t make partisan excuses. People who don’t stink of moral corruption. Those are the kind of people who will hammer Congress when something wrong happens, instead of making excuses.

It’s a simple fact. Democrats should have let Republicans read Obamacare before voting on it. And Republicans should have let Democrats read the tax bill. And both sides should unite to pass Downsize DC’s “Read the Bills Act.”

Write and tell them so, if you haven’t done that already.

Thanks for being an ACTIVE DC Downsizer.

Jim Babka & Perry Willis

Downsize DC

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