House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sets Friday’s agenda to include markups on a bill that would restrict executive pay practices despite objections from over 25 members of the committee.
The complaining members requested that the markup be postponed since over twenty percent of the committee’s members are new to the committee and needed more time to review the bill. Republicans also argued that there had not been a hearing on the issue since the bill had been introduced.
“It does these members a disservice to ask them to consider this legislation without the benefit of a hearing and an opportunity to understand that they are voting on,” reads a letter signed by every Republican member of the committee except Rep. Ron Paul (Texas).
Republicans would naturally want to stall the markups so that they can launch a stronger attack, both through the markups and through the media against the bill. The media has become one of the Republican Party’s greatest allies in the debate over healthcare, so they undoubtedly want to create some negative media.
And negative media would not be difficult to generate. The government is actually debating placing a cap on the maximum payment an executive could make for his work. The government bailouts are the only reason such measures are even being considered. After Washington decided that the US government should take on the automobile industry, the entire government feels entitled to extend the long arm of the law into the regulation of Wall Street instead of keeping it bound by the constitution.
The Democrats have tried to preempt this media assault by speeding up the legislative process.
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