Cap & Trade -- The Bill That Didn't Actually Exist

There were two almost equal sized camps inside the well of the House of Representatives Friday night following the vote on the Cap & Trade bill.

The winners slapped one another on the back and made wonderful pronouncements on what a marvelous piece of legislation it is, and how it will save humanity. The authors, Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, were given considerable credit for the bill-writing expertise.

The losers were much quieter, although there were those who pointed out that no one had had time to actually read the bill, which was reputed to be over 1,300 pages.

This morning, it was learned that not only was there no time to read the bill, there was no actual bill to read. The 310 pages of amendments that floated in at 4 a.m. Friday were never integrated into the original bill. As one critic suggested, "They didn't pass a bill, they passed a concept." Legally speaking, the "bill" doesn't exist.

John Hindraker at Powerline says this isn't the first time this has happened since Nancy Pelosi's team took over in 2007. "Disgraceful," he says.

David Freddoso at The Washington Examiner wonders who will be watching while the "amendments" are integrated into the original bill.

... they cannot be simply combined, because the amendment contains 300 pages of items like this: "Page 15, beginning line 8, strike paragraph (11)..." How many members of Congress do you suppose have gone through it all to see how it changes the bill?

Global Warming is apparently so urgent that we can't even wait until members of Congress know what they're voting on.

He quoted Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who tried to get the chair to acknowledge there was no actual bill before the voting took place:

"If a bill for which there is no copy were to actually pass this body," Barton asked, "could the bill without a copy be sent to the Senate for its consideration?"

And could a bill without a copy be signed by the president?

Life in the New Progressive era of America is getting stranger and stranger.