IBD: "Can't We Read the Health Care Bill?"

It seems so simple. Weren't we all raised to "read the fine print" before signing contracts? If we do it in our personal lives, why don't our elected representatives do it with the government? What does the fine print say about the proposed nationalized health care bill?

Investor's Business Daily's editorial asks, "Can't we read the health care bill?"

Congress: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been asked repeatedly to put the proposed health care bill on the Web. They've refused. Do they have something to hide?

Even Democrats have asked their leadership to put the bill online at least 72 hours before a vote, so that any American can read the 1,000-plus-page monstrosity.

"At a time when trust in Congress and the U.S. government is unprecedentedly low," a group of Democratic senators recently wrote to Reid, "we can begin to rebuild the American people's faith in their federal government through transparency and by actively inviting Americans to participate in the legislative process."

We agree. In the same spirit, at least one group, Let Freedom Ring USA, has posted an online petition calling for Congress to mandate that any bill be posted online at least 72 hours before it's voted on. If Democrats are serious, they might look into that.

What are they hiding? Is it because they know the bill would fail if Americans actually knew what was in it?

What kind of way is that to run a government? What kind of way is that to treat their constituents?