“I think people who request a copy of the budget should be given it gratis,” said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), another Budget panel member. “You want something in your hand so you can thumb through it and mark it up and reference it.”
Garrett is skeptical of the business vision of entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, who are hawking digital books and claim that paper versions will someday become a thing of the past.
“The whole idea of books going online, I don’t think it’s going to catch favor,” he said.
Kevelighan, OMB’s spokesman, expressed little surprise that what the administration considers a tweak to the budget process might prompt groans at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
“The notion of change in general is an inconvenience,” he said.
Kevelighan noted that posting the budget online allows lawmakers to search it easily for key words. He said that also saves them from worrying about “leftover copies that can clutter up the office.”
The perks offered by technological innovation, however, seemed lost on Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Budget Committee.
“Hell,” he said when told of the ease of keyword searches, “I guess this is progress.
“I’d much prefer a paper copy,” he added.
Spratt said he would likely buy 10 copies of the budget for his committee, a $2,000 expense.
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