Out is "enemy combatant". We can empty Gitmo of such simply by calling them something else. It is similar to the lunatics at PETA who want to convince people to stop eating fish by calling them "sea kittens". "Global war on terror" is now an "overseas contingency operation". Terrorism itself has been reduces to "man caused disasters".
Of course some old liberal standards never fall by the wayside. Taxes are "contributions" and spending is "investment".
But now comes a new opportunity to re-define a word that, until now, been clearly understood. President HopeNChange has decided that his tax reform task force will meet behind closed doors.
But there are obstacles.
However, there are potential complications. Sending the task force’s report to the full board, which will meet publicly and includes CEOs and union leaders not represented on the smaller panel, means the potential for dissent and a split vote on whatever the subcommittee proposes. Of course, there is likely to be some dissent on the smaller panel, too. Feldstein has already written an op-ed denouncing Obama’s proposal to limit charitable deductions.
The legal standards here come in large part from a 1983 federal appeals court decision on a challenge to secret task forces of an anti-government-waste board best known as the Grace Commission and set up by President Reagan. The court said that task forces “could well” be subject to the open meeting requirements if their “reports are transmitted directly to federal decision makers before they are made publicly available” or if the main board “is merely ‘rubber stamping’ the task forces’ recommendations with little or no independent consideration.”
After transcending party and race the boy prince also must transcend legality:
Of course, these standards are like Swiss cheese for those intent on secrecy. Task force members could bounce tentative recommendations off of the White House through a variety of channels while not technically sending a “report.” And the advisory board’s votes on the tax plans could be carefully counted in advance while formally tallied at a meeting that doesn’t give outward evidence of “rubber stamping.”
But Obama has promised to create "an unprecedented level of openness in Government.” Given that Democratic lawmakers have called the subcommittee exception a “loophole” in federal law and that a House committee voted early this month for a bill that would close that “loophole,” it may look a bit odd if the White House tries to leap straight into a "loophole" their congressional colleagues are trying to close.
We wouldn't expect The One to be bound by the constraints of mere mortals. Besides, law, like taxes, are for the little people.
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