On the recordMarch 9, 2010
we are going to have an amendment on the floor in just a moment that simply requires the Senate to post every time they create a new program and every time they spend money outside of pay-go so that we truly are transparent with the American people about what we are doing. With great fanfare, we passed pay-go. We made it a statute. The last three bills in a row, we have allocated up to $120 billion outside of pay-go. With all the claims, with all the fanfare, we said we are going to now start paying for everything we do, and the first three bills to come before the Senate, what do we do? We simply say: Rules off; doesn't count; we are going to spend our grandkids' money. For the life of me, I do not understand the controversy around this amendment. It is about us being transparent with the American people. No more games. No more saying we are doing one thing and doing another. All this amendment says is, when we violate our own rules and we spend money we do not have and we do not pay for programs by eliminating programs that are not effective, that are not a priority, that we are going to list it on our Web site. Nothing could be simpler.
