White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked by Chuck Todd of NBC News why the Obama Administration hasn’t actually released the plan it’s touted. Carney’s response was remarkable:

“You need it written down?”

Yes, Jay, that’s usually the way these things work. You present a plan in written form. You don’t simply give speeches and expect people to support it or oppose it based on the rhetoric of the day.

Is Carney new to the concept? Is he unclear that the public usually expects, and Congress usually votes on, written plans? Not simply rhetoric? If he is unaware, perhaps he shouldn’t be speaking for the White House.

You know what you call a country in which laws (which is what budgetary plans are) aren’t written down but rather are made-up on the fly? You call it a dictatorship. In democracies – or rather republics – we write our laws down.