Fun With Dick & Jane

I’ve come across three things today that are making me nervous. Then again, it’s early still.

First: Byron York talks about the RAT insertion in the stimulus bill.

The provision, which attracted virtually no attention in the debate over the 1,073-page stimulus bill, creates something called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board — the RAT Board, as it’s known by the few insiders who are aware of it. The board would oversee the in-house watchdogs, known as inspectors general, whose job is to independently investigate allegations of wrongdoing at various federal agencies, without fear of interference by political appointees or the White House.

In the name of accountability and transparency, Congress has given the RAT Board the authority to ask “that an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation.” If the inspector general doesn’t want to follow the wishes of the RAT Board, he’ll have to write a report explaining his decision to the board, as well as to the head of his agency (from whom he is supposedly independent) and to Congress. In the end, a determined inspector general can probably get his way, but only after jumping through bureaucratic hoops that will inevitably make him hesitate to go forward.

The RAT commissioner is appointed by the President, which means the President dictates who gets investigated. Charlie Rangell, Chris Dodd and John Murtha should be breathing easier today.

No one knows who inserted the RAT provision in the Porkulus bill.

The second thing making me nervous is an incident in Oklahoma, reported by Glenn.

A police officer in Oklahoma pulled a man over last week for having an anti-Obama bumper sticker. The Secret Service later showed up at his house. The sign said:

“Abort Obama, not the unborn.”

Compared to the speech repeatedly used against President Bush for the last 8 years, this anti-abortion plea is pretty tame. Yet no one was ever interrogated or detained for anti-Bush bumper stickers that I recall. And I think I would recall, because the cries of “FASCISM” by the press would have drowned out the rest of the news. Apparently fascism is now change we can believe in.

Finally, over at The Corner, Jerry Taylor reads the NY Times so you don’t have to, and finds little known fact about President Obama’s housing bill announced yesterday:

“Except for the provision that empowers bankruptcy judges, almost all of the other elements can be enacted by Mr. Obama without further action by Congress.”

So The Congress is obsolete when it comes to this $75 billion dollar piece of legislation.

Perhaps we have elected a King afterall.