LEGISLATION: IF YOU CAN READ THIS BILL, YR DOING IT RIGHT

ITEM: Political groups are demanding that Congress pass legislation requiring Congress to actually read any legislation it intends to pass.

The reason: the fact that recent legislation like the stimulus bill, global warming bill and the upcoming health care bill are so ridiculously long that it’s doubtful any of the Congresscritters have ever read them in full.

Note that one of the groups – LetFreedomRing – is conservative, and thus trying to make this look as though this is a primarily the fault of Democrats. It’s not. Both sides are guilty of pushing and passing long bills stuffed with bad ideas and/or irrelevant pork (see: the Patriot Act, and the credit-card reform bill that also makes it legal to carry guns in national parks, etc).

Which is why I suggest ignoring the partisan rhetoric, because it IS a problem, and has been for a very long time. Even Investor’s Business Daily – which supports the Read The Bill bill and also implies that the Democrats are the main perps – provides some interesting perspective nonetheless:

The Declaration of Independence, the grand document that founded our country, was written in only 1,337 words.

The Constitution, which set up the federal government and laid down its parameters, is, without the amendments and signatures, roughly 4,440 words. It is the shortest constitution in the world.

The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution that established personal liberties that the government cannot quash, was composed in fewer than 600 words.

Maybe it’s not realistic to keep any bill down to that length, and I’m sure our already insanely complex legal system is partly to blame. On the other hand, when yr hiring speed readers to go through yr own bills to see what’s in them, it’s probably time for a rethink.

Read ‘em and weep,

This is dF

POLITICALLY INACCURATE

Following on from the last post, for those of you unclear as to where my political affiliations lie (and yr just dying to know, I'm sure), the Internet says I’m somewhere around here.




[Viabrangwaine ]

Which I think means I hate everyone.

I don’t, really. And actually, one thing I hate about Net memes (including this one) is that the multiple-choice answers provided don’t really reflect how I feel about certain issues.

Still, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not really a party man. None of the established parties really have my best interests at heart, which is as well as I tend to assume that all politicians are lying, crooked bastards locked into a system that puts self-interest and money over whatever ideologies and principles they claim – and if they aren’t when they get started, give them a month. There are no more Mr Smiths, if there ever were any outside of Frank Capra’s vivid imagination.

Or is that too heavy?

Anyway, suffice to say that I don’t subscribe to either party line, and that I don’t get along well with Authority. So that chart is as accurate as anything you’ll find on Hello Quizzy.

On the bright side, that does mean that I can deal with any differing opinions any of you might have, so I encourage you to express yrselves freely at all times.

I’d go on, but I have to go buy a phone now.

Bedtime for democracy,

This is dF