Democrats and Republicans Agree!
September 23, 2009
It was refreshing to hear that both Democrats and Republicans agree that members of Congress AND the public should have a minimum of 72 hours to review legislation before a bill is brought to the floor for a vote. Our founding fathers would be shocked to learn that we had come to a point that such a law is necessary. The bill sponsored by Representative Brian Baird (D-Oregon) would require “House leaders to post all non-emergency legislation online, in its final form, three days before a vote”.
Not a single member of Congress had time to read the final trillion-dollar stimulus bill or the national energy tax bill before they were passed. Americans, like myself, were astonished and angry that our leaders would vote on legislation they hadn’t read. House leader Pelosi has suggested she would support 48 hours, but feels that 72 hours is necessary. How about 1 hour for each ten pages. So a 480 page bill could be voted on in 48 hours, a 720 page bill could be voted on in 72 hours and a 1,000 page bill could be voted on in 100 hours?
Health Care Reform Now? How about 2013 instead.
September 8, 2009
Would you be surprised to learn that the President’s health care reform bill won’t go into affect until 2013. Why is Obama pressing Congress to pass sweeping changes to our health care system in the next few weeks for a bill that won’t take effect for years?
Why not allow Congress to go through the normal series of hearings to discuss the pros and cons on the plan? Why not let the public hear these discussions? Thomas Sowell asks the most important question, “What sense does it make to ‘hurry up and wait’ on something that is literally a matter of life and death?”
The answers are simple. Obama wants Congress to pass his massive take over of the health care system BEFORE the public (or Congress for that matter) understands whats in the bill. More importantly, he wants to get re-elected in 2012 BEFORE the government takes over health care. What is he so worried about? He is worried that we won’t like the program. He should be worried – Americans have spoken loudly and clearly that they don’t like the plan.
When you listen to the President speak to the nation tomorrow night about his plan, remember that he doesn’t intend on implementing it until 2013. There is nothing urgent about this bill – we have plenty of time to pass it – years in fact. READ THE BILL.
Hurry up and pass something?
Pelosi and Reid met with the President today. The message? Pass something soon. The pair have the votes if they move quickly, but just what will they pass? There are four different bills running through the various Congressional committees – we debated the particulars all summer. The net net of this summer’s debate? The existing plans don’t have the support of the majority of Americans. So what will Congress pass? There will be a new bill. They will simply change the language, rewriting the thousand pages of madness into a new bill that is as flawed as the old bill. So why will it pass? They won’t debate it. They won’t read it. They will pass it for the good of the nation – regardless of whether or not it is.
I believe this is a perfect opportunity to press for a law that requires law makers to read, debate and review every piece of legislation they vote on. I think for bills that affect more than 5% of the economy they should allow at least 30 days for the public to consume the merits of the bill. This would give everyone time to determine what it is they are voting on and whether or not their constituents actually support it. Go sign the petition at readthebill.org. They only ask for 72 hours before debate – I think they should ad a provision to require more time for very large, impactful bills like the health care bill.
Obama, the new IT manager for the U.S.
August 28, 2009
Everyday I am less and less surprised by the sort of legislation that is coming out of Washington. First it was bad enough when Congress and Obama took part in the nationalization of banks, insurance companies and automakers. More recently, and perhaps more concerning, Obama and Congress have been frustrated by the voices of conservatives on the internet, on the radio, on cable and in the town hall. In response, Senator Rockefeller has spent the past few months drafting (in secret) a bill that would give Obama the power to seize control of private-sector networks. Why? The bill doesn’t say. Obama would have the ‘exclusive’ right to take control of any network to respond to ‘threats’. Presumably these threats would be technical in nature, but the bill doesn’t limit the president from taking action for any reason and groups like the Internet Security Alliance have voiced their concern that the bill is too vague.
The bill also attempts to nationalize the management of private sector networks by creating a federal certification program that would require that computer systems and networks be managed by people who have been awarded a federal license. Basically, a federal government mandated union of technology workers that would depend on the government for their jobs.
The irony is that Obama can’t keep anyone in the national cybersecurity roll for more than a few weeks before they resign. The government’s own networks are in shambles and they want to take control of private sector networks? Declan McCullagh explains the underlying thinking behind the bill, “If your company is deemed “critical,” a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.”
My opinion? The bill is too short (55 pages) to pass. Enough Congressmen will actually read this bill and determine it is a bad idea for it to pass. If Senator Rockefeller were to extend the bill by a thousand pages it would likely pass – unfortunately.
Read the Bill? Obama supports it?
August 15, 2009
I agree too. Congress MUST read all of the bills before they pass them.
Note to Congress: Less travel, more reading!
August 7, 2009
Congressmen explain that they don’t have time to read the bills they vote on. Turns out the reason why is that they are traveling the world on OUR dime. Check out the growth of Congressional travel:
![[Congress travel chart]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-AR016_JETS_NS_20090806190413.gif)
“Congress treats the American taxpayer like an all-you-can-eat buffet … Pelosi and Reid, you need to put yourself on a diet, or we’ll do it for you in 2010.” – Lynn Marino
Read the bill!
August 1, 2009
Too Big to Pass — One of the most notorious news stories of the past week was Democratic Congressman John Conyers’ ridiculing of the idea that he and his fellow legislators should actually read bills—here, the health care “reform” act—before voting on them:
