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COLLINS: SHOCKED, SHOCKED. One of the more grotesque spectacles in recent years has been the dependably ginned-up outrage (with no willingness to point fingers at the clear culprits) we see from GOP moderates every time their party hoodwinks them, and the American people. Case in point: The New York Times reports today that hidden in a huge military spending bill recently signed by the president is a provision to terminate the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. According to the Times:
The clause was inserted by the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee over the objections of Democratic counterparts during a closed-door conference, and it has generated surprise and some outrage among lawmakers who say they had no idea it was in the final legislation.Really, surprise? This kind of sneaky tactic has been the Republicans stock in trade, especially in the House, for quite some time. But somehow moderate Republicans continue to be shocked, just shocked, when these things happen.
Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who followed the bill closely as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, says that she still does not know how the provision made its way into what is called the conference report, which reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of a bill...�It�s truly a mystery to me,� Ms. Collins said. �I looked at what I thought was the final version of the conference report and that provision was not in at that time.�Methinks the Distinguished Gentlewoman from Maine doth protest too much. Sure, she may not have known this would happen, but how can she pretend "it's truly a mystery?" Spare me.
--Ben Adler