So What Do They Do All Day?

Ah, to be a member of Congress.  Lobbyists picking up the tab for just about everything, beautiful young college students hoping for a recommendations, everything a man could want.  All you have to do is argue a bit, vote on the occasional bill, and keep from making the folks back home to mad.  Really, what more can you want?

Oh yeah, we might want them to actually read the blasted bills for a change!

Recently, there have been a series of bills that have me very worried.  The budget, the omnibus stimulus package, the Wall Street bailout, none of them were actually read.  As a member of Congress what in the bill they agreed with, and they’ll probably hem and haw…because they have even less clue than we have.

That’s where a group called Downside DC comes in.  The good folks at Downside DC have a proposal called The Read the Bills Act that would have come in handy.  While the title may lack imagination, what’s in it doesn’t.

The long story short is that this one bill would shake Congress to it’s core in ways most have never thought possible.  It would require that every bill be read before all of Congress before it can even be voted on.   Sounds simple, right?  Well, add in the fact that every single amendment would have to be read too?  Now you’re starting to see what this bill could do.  No more pork projects slipping in with no one the wiser.

Of course, this doesn’t stop some of the shenanigans that currently goes on, like attaching last minute amendments right?  Actually, yeah it does.  After reading the bill, it must be put on the internet for seven days before it can be passed.  This negates the ability to attach last minute riders, since then the process starts anew.

Also, because the bill has to be read  aloud, the presumed outcome is that laws will be much simpler in it’s content.  Currently, the laws are such a jumble of jargon and mumbo jumbo that even attorneys aren’t always sure what the heck the law means.  By making these bills be read aloud, it would pressure lawmakers to use simpler language, language that you and I use every day, and provide us with laws we can understand without a court of law having to interpret every little nuance.

The thing is, will Congress ever pass something like this?  Who knows, but I hope they do.  I hope Congress, no matter who’s in the majority, realizes that this would be better for our nation as a whole.

Wouldn’t it be nice to actually understand what the law expects of us?