Big Congressional Bills
Posted: Monday, January 04, 2010
by Richard Vail
Chisel & Plane
Once upon a time, we had a Congress that wasn't padded with lawyers. They used to write concise bills that actually made sense and a an important impact upon America. Those days are long gone...now we have a Congress that not only doesn't ever read the stuff they vote on, but they "shop" out the construction of bills to those so called "special interest" groups so that they don't actually have to do the work of reading them.
Homestead Act (1862) - 9 pages.
National Labor Relations Act (1935) [aka "Wagner Act"] - 25 pages.
Social Security Act (1935) - 82 pages.
Civil Rights Act (1964) - 74 pages.
I don't think there is anyone in this country who would argue that those bills aren't of tremendous importance to our country. I would go so far as to challenge anyone to extrapolate what our nation would be like without them. What this proves is that it's not really necessary to write a hugely complicated bill that will change they way things are done in America unless you're trying to hide things, like for example, pork, and things lobbyist desire for their clients, you know, those special interests that all politicians claim to be against. But all those things end up screwing America. That means, Congress is corrupt and they all must go...
This Article has been viewed 755 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)Richard,I couldn't agree more. Americans should be appalled by what is happening in Washington -- on both sides.As well we should be...but that's what we get for electing lawyers to Congress, we expect them to act in the national interest, but what they usually do is act in their own interest.
Lawyers,traditionally,just like writers of Charles Dickens' time, were paid BY THE WORD; thus you have Dickens writing interminable sentences that go on forever and the same legalese malaise.yep, see my comment above...that's why this fall, I vote against ALL incumbents...on the simple theory that they've been in office way too long...even if it's only 1 termI shall repeat this although it's been heard ad nauseam; "Politicians should be changed regularly just like baby diapers and for the same reason!"
Just another example how our national Congress fails to act in the country’s best interest. And we continue to elect them! Whose fault is that?Ours...so what we need to do is elect fewer lawyers, to start with, and start looking for people who WILL do what is right...and will then leave office,, not turn into professional politicians.
Thanks Richard, I am in total agreement with you on this!! Our country needs to get back to what the founding fathers set in action for us. Let us vote out all the old ones and get in the new ones!! Thanks for sharing!!!Hi sheatina, welcome to searchwarp. thanks for commenting.
I totally agree and we need to remember, if you don't vote then you cannot complain! Thanks again for a thought provoking article! MarijoYou're absolutely right...if you don't vote then you can't cry over the consequences. I haven't missed voting since 1980 (my b-day is in late Sep, which then was within 60 day limit by law...{big sigh}.
Another reason for the bloated bills has to be the quid-pro-quo which regularly occurs. All of those earmarks and bribes (yes, they really are bribes) take time to spell out, and as lawyers tend to do, they spell it out in language which hides the real meaning. Whenever I hear of lawyers making bills it reminds me of the old joke: "What do you call a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the sea?" "A good start."Well done.it's time to start thinking about what is good for the country...not what is good for "my district/state"...
I agree - legalese-ridden, bloated bills are obfuscatory and unnecessary.Not only do they make it easy to sneak in hidden elements with little chance of detection until it is too late (because people don't always have time to read them in full before voting), they end up turning the law of the land into a twisted and complex mess that not even lawyers always fully understand.There should be some regulation to require brevity (as far as reasonably possible) and clarity in all government documents.Unfortunately, the "convolutedness" of bills is done on purpose in order to hide pork and political payoffs...that is the definition of corruption. While the GOP didn't start this practice and in fact lost their majority in 2006 because they forgot they were supposed to be FISCAL conservatives...the present Democratic majority has routinely doubled the number of earmarks in every bill...it's time to end this practice once and for all...because it's killing our country's ability to operate.Great points Ben.
Richard, great examples and nicely put. Congress is far too heavily influenced by lobbyists and pet projects aimed at getting them re-elected.thank for taking the time to comment.
I agree! The "Throw the Bums Out" party surfaces every 4 years or so, then disappears again. In 2010, they need to finally prevail.Indeed...just vote against EVERY SINGLE incumbent. thanks for coming by...welcome to searchwarp!
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.