Nowadays, members of Congress are in a big hurry to try to slow themselves down.

And while one can certainly question the motives, in a pitched political climate, I don't question the stated objective. If voters have more time to review what Congress is doing, that's a good thing.

On Wednesday, Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch all but tripped over each other in throwing their support behind a "72-hour resolution." The resolution would require all legislation to be available for public review on the Internet for at least 72 hours before a Senate vote. A bill's fiscal impact would also need to be "scored" in advance by the Congressional Budget Office.

(The resolution is authored by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who in is pre-political life was a Hall of Fame major league pitcher. Considering that last night's playoff game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals weighed in at an almost unwatchable 3 hours and 54 minutes, I'd also support anything he could do to speed up postseason baseball. But I digress.)

I agree with the resolution's goal. Rushed governing is seldom good governing. I make that argument, it seems, every winter or spring, when the Idaho Legislature wraps up its annual business with a hasty pudding of "going-home bills." Hurry-up legislation is an even more serious issue on Capitol Hill — where Congress routinely spends on the order of billions, not millions, and has the ability to deficit spend.

Who can argue with slowing down? Apparently, the average American doesn't. Both Crapo and Risch cited polls showing 83 percent support for posting legislation online before a vote. Seems like everyone is using the same set of talking points.

I just hope Congress doesn't try to use this issue to tally party-line points — and I do have to note that Capitol Hill Republicans weren't talking about a cooling-off period resolution last fall, when the Bush administration pushed through the $700 billion bank rescue bill. If Americans seem to agree that Congress should slow down, can Congress manage to walk the walk?

Some Democrats support a 72-hour waiting period on health care reform legislation, as our Erika Bolstad reported today. Idaho's one Democrat in Congress, 1st District Rep. Walt Minnick, supports a 72-hour cooling-off period for all House legislation, as does GOP Rep. Mike Simpson.

Maybe Congress can cross party lines on a basic good-government cause. If so, it'd be a case of better late than never.

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