Fast Lawmaking Sausage - Nobody knows what is in the Bills
About: washington times - dems block gop demand for more time
The dirty little secret is that Congressional Committees work with "conceptual language" which someone else translates into the legalese which is the bills which finally get signed. And then further get translated into procedures by administrators etc.....
Source: ...
Rushed floor votes on the stimulus bill and the cap-and-trade energy bill -- both of which totaled more than 1,000 pages -- have fueled calls from the public that lawmakers read bills before voting on them. The House resolution is supported by several public-interest groups, including the Sunlight Foundation, which point out that hasty votes can result in unintended consequences, such as the provision tucked into the stimulus bill that had the effect of authorizing executives of bailed-out insurance giant AIG to receive retroactive bonuses.
Earlier this summer, Mrs. Pelosi told a reporter she would allow a 48-hour waiting period prior to bringing health care legislation up for a vote.
... We'll see. What is the hurry? What does her behavior & refusal to let 72 hours elapse before voting say about the Democrat Party motives? Apparently winning is much more important than the score & the score is much more important than what the game is all about. This is the ram it down our throats attitude that the Congress & the president have had since the start.
I found H.Res 554 looking for the resolution which got sent back to committee. Presumably it would give the public 72 hours to look at and reporters to dig out the dirty little details. Here is more ammunition for 12615!
I found H.Res 554 looking for the resolution which got sent back to committee. Presumably it would give the public 72 hours to look at and reporters to dig out the dirty little details. Here is more ammunition for 12615!
Fuck Pelosi!
Tags
- congress
- lawmaking
Comments
Mark de LA says
Perhaps they are all afraid of that Naked Lunch 
source: ...
Naked Lunch is William S. Burroughs' most famous and influential experimental novel, originally published in Paris in 1959 but not available until 1962 in the USA and 1964 in the UK due to publishers' fears of obscenity prosecution. Director David Cronenberg made a film based very loosely on it in 1991, and a restored and corrected edition of the novel has been announced for publication in 2002. Jack Kerouac, who helped Allen Ginsberg edit the book into shape, provided the title, which Burroughs interpreted to mean “a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork.”
Naked Lunch is William S. Burroughs' most famous and influential experimental novel, originally published in Paris in 1959 but not available until 1962 in the USA and 1964 in the UK due to publishers' fears of obscenity prosecution. Director David Cronenberg made a film based very loosely on it in 1991, and a restored and corrected edition of the novel has been announced for publication in 2002. Jack Kerouac, who helped Allen Ginsberg edit the book into shape, provided the title, which Burroughs interpreted to mean “a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork.”
...
Mark de LA says
(also from *)
If not Pelosi then who is bottling up the 72 hours online first resolution?
Source: ...
Yesterday, Pelosi's Senate Finance Committee Democratic colleagues voted down an amendment to put the bill online for 72 hours before a final vote.
Update: Here's a transcript of the exchange:
TWS: Madam Speaker, do you support the measure to put the final House bill online for 72 hours before it's voted on at the very end?
PELOSI: Absolutely. Without question.
...if true then 
for using her crazy image, I should have used:
for using her crazy image, I should have used:
(also from *)
Seth says
I think it would be a good idea to review and perhaps redesign the whole process of how the text of legislation becomes enacted. This is not a partisan thing. Making the whole process open, and mandating a required time for public review and comment, would certainly improve the situation. Perhaps there would also be a way to improve the kind of language that goes into the bill.
I think it would be a good idea to review and perhaps redesign the whole process of how the text of legislation becomes enacted. This is not a partisan thing. Making the whole process open, and mandating a required time for public review and comment, would certainly improve the situation. Perhaps there would also be a way to improve the kind of language that goes into the bill.
Mark de LA says
seth 2009-09-25 09:09:08 12638
I think it would be a good idea to review and perhaps redesign the whole process of how the text of legislation becomes enacted. This is not a partisan thing. Making the whole process open, and mandating a required time for public review and comment, would certainly improve the situation. Perhaps there would also be a way to improve the kind of language that goes into the bill.
I think it would be a good idea to review and perhaps redesign the whole process of how the text of legislation becomes enacted. This is not a partisan thing. Making the whole process open, and mandating a required time for public review and comment, would certainly improve the situation. Perhaps there would also be a way to improve the kind of language that goes into the bill. Yep, I agree - mark that down as an historic event.
I suspect it won't happen from within congress because that tends to weaken their power, particularly for spending your money foolishly to get job security votes. Websites like govtrack & votesmart are good starts along with Thomas (Library of Congress). One trouble is the massive amount of reform required to make the process transparent. I would like to track the bills from their origin someplace in the mind of a legislator, lobbyist or possibly a constituent (LOL) to the end product which affects you & me; be it a law or administrative regulation. Not many are aware that it is not always a codified law that ends up as the sausage.
Mark de LA says
Here is an ABC article which gives another picture of how hard it is to know what is in the bills. There is some video of Stephanopoulos.
Here is an ABC article which gives another picture of how hard it is to know what is in the bills. There is some video of Stephanopoulos. See Also
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