re "Closed-door meeting unacceptable" (Denver Post Op-Ed, 1/3/07)
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_4937878

To the Editor:

Christine Tatum has a point when she calls the closed-door “bipartisan caucus” of Senators unacceptable. They say that the two things you never want to see made are laws and sausages. But if they are going to shove the laws down our throats, just as if we were eating a dubious sausage, we should know what they’re made of.

Furthermore, I don’t assume that Senators learning “how to get along” is a good thing. The voters regularly vote for gridlock for a reason. Maybe the less the Senate gets done the better we all are. Last time they got something done, we were stuck with a $223 million Bridge to Nowhere. (And don’t think they eliminated it after taxpayers were outraged. They simply changed the method of funding to hide it.)

While there are excellent reasons that meetings of Senators intended to help produce legislation should be open for all to see, it is nevertheless tempting to simply say OK and enjoy not having to see or hear what must be at least as unsavory a process as in any sausage factory.