Read the bills before you vote
A number of well-informed readers have raised the valid concern that Congress is not reading legislative bills before casting a vote. Here are just a few examples:
The Patriot Act was over 300 pages long, yet not one single member of Congress even read it. The bill wasn’t even available to Congress until 15 minutes before the actual vote.
TARP, or the $700 billion bank bailout, grew to over 450 pages, after the initial Treasury draft was only about 3 pages.
The $787 billion stimulus package reached 1,100 pages and Congress had less than a day to review it before voting.
Read more
No matter what one’s opinion may be of these three particular bills, each bill was rushed through legislation under threat of some type of imminent collapse. For the Patriot Act, it was to prevent a catastrophic terror attack after 9/11. For TARP, it was to prevent a cataclysmic banking collapse. For the stimulus package, it was to prevent the onset of the second Great Depression.
Much can be justified in the name of drastically expanding the size, scope, and power of the Federal Government during “emergency” situations. But, it is at these moments that mental clarity and attention to detail are most crucial. As is often the case, federal legislation that is written in unreadable “legalese”, hundreds or thousands of pages long, and rushed through in highly emotional circumstances can carry with it a number of unintended consequences.
Going forward, perhaps We the People could demand the following from our Congress:
1. The Constitution is about 20 pages long. It’s one of the shortest constitutions in the entire world. Why on earth are we drafting bills 300 or 1100 pages long? What if the maximum length of every future bill was no longer than the Constitution? Then our Senators and Reps could actually read and carefully analyze each bill under consideration.
2. Each bill should cite chapter and verse in the Constitution for its authority. No more legal gymnastics and carefully crafted lingo that can be interpreted a million different ways.
3. Let the American people read the bill before it comes to a vote. With more intelligible and concise bills, the American people will be able to participate in the legislative process, learn more about the Constitution, and holds its political representatives accountable.
What do you think?
The Grand Royal Chief of Everything said:
Sounds good to me!
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 am
Laura L said:
I think it’s brilliant. Simple and to the point.
I believe politicians use “emergencies” to distract and get what they want done. They also use an avalanche of paper and words no one has time to read to ram their personal agendas and projects through.
The stimulus bill was an “emergency” that we didn’t have time to read or even think about before passing because we had to do “something!!!” — and yet only 23% of the “stimulus” money is to be spent in 2009. But it’s an emergency? Hmmmmm.
In addition to letting the American people read the bill, I think it should always be made available in a searchable electronic format. It is my understanding the 1,000+ page stimulus bill was released in paper rather than the typical PDF format that can be searched for key words. (Gee, how many trees did they kill in order to hide their work?)
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
jefferson said:
Laura…great comment. I think the environmentalists should start lobbying for electronic bills
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Charles Thompson said:
Cut the administrative staffs of all legislators. Make the legislators actually write these bills themselves. That should not only cut down the size of the bills but also the number of bills.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Tricia said:
Ok….great stuff here! Now who has a suggestion on how we can get something like this enacted? A petition? A marathon session of contacting our congressmen? Contacting O’Rielly or Hannity for exposure? what can we do???
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:54 am
Shawn McCarthy said:
Fantastic idea. The really disappointing fact is that all of these Politicians swore on the Bible to uphold and defend the Constitution and it’s binding documents at their swearing in to office. Perhaps Obama can right a childrens book style rendition (lots of bright colors and perhaps popups)of the Constitution, so Congress and His Administration can interpret the Document.
We were promised we were to have an oppurtunity to read all proposed stimulus and spending Legislation. The current Administration vowed to post proposed Legislation on a Government website for 48 hours prior to there being any votes in Congress on spending. Whats that website again Vice President Biden (”nobody messes with Joe”)?
Here’s a few videos of the promises coming from the horses mouth (they’re quick, I promise). I could have gone on and on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TUJsxxt4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVJfjIugEp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgDAmtrcJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72g7qmeP1dE
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Sandilynn said:
Hi to all,
I’m not a member of your group and can’t become one. I’m in too many now and can hardly keep track of what I’m doing.
Caught your site and can give you this information. All three of the sites listed are FREE petition sites!
http://www.gopetition.com/ (this is the one I belong to)
http://www.ipetitions.com/
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ (this is only for “green people”)
You can write petitions, notify everyone you know - groups included - and then send the petitions to the target. Hope this helps, Sandilynn
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Jim Wahler said:
Join DownsizeDC.org and sign their petition.
Read the Bills Act (RTBA) and One Subject at a Time Act (OSAT) are the two ‘cornerstones’ of this organization! They will do everything mentioned above, and much more!
April 24th, 2009 at 2:02 pm