Make sure it doesn't work, then complain about it

A better demonstration of the GOP game plan you're unlikely to see

Rep. Eric Paulsen was unaccountably lured out of his gopher hole to have a town hall meeting that wasn't on the telephone, and where he talked to more than one person at a time. And mirable dictu, Two Putt Tommy was there to take it in.

In what Tommy describes as the hightlight -- and I would, too -- we see why Paulsen avoids questions like the plague:

Back to the highlight - Paulsen talked about the long time it takes for a manufacturer to get FDA approval for devices; that because of this, manufacturers were going to Europe to speed up taking new product to market.

So this guy gets the microphone, and basically says: "Hey! I'm in the medical device industry, and the reason it takes so long is the FDA is shorthanded. How about we hire some more workers to speed the process up?"

"Um, gosh, shucks, the graphs; ummm... well, I, ah....."

The guy at the mic is absolutely right, too. The FDA -- and other regulatory law enforcement agencies like the U.S. Customs Service -- are understaffed and are very slow to respond to anything from Freedom of Information Act requests on up. And without question, this is harmful to the domestic economy.

Be sure to read Tommy's account of the whole affair.

Update: Doug Grow was there, too.