Thread: Reading Legislation...It’s Your Job!

Frank Salvato, Managing Editor

Reading Legislation...It’s Your Job!

July 31, 2009

It would appear that some of our elected officials – oh heck, let’s say most of our elected officials – believe it isn’t necessary to read legislation before voting on it. A perfect example of this is playing out right now in Congress with regard to the healthcare legislation where several high-ranking elected officials have unabashedly stated that expecting elected officials to read legislation, in its entirety, before voting on it, is to expect too much. Really...

Recently, at a National Press Club Luncheon, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said:

“I love these members who stand up and say, ‘Read the bill!’. What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and...and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?â€

BRAVO! This is like reading Gone with the Wind from cover to cover many times per week. Gubbernment has always been very, very, very slow, so the people might to have to wait a few months longer before the Congress passes little bills that will make our lives much more miserable.
Let's just get rid of Congress and that way the American people can vote whether a bill should be considered by the president or not. (Got a few minutes after lunch or on the way home?)
Republicans did this to Democrats and Dems are now doing the same thing to Repubs. Perhaps the American people should vote on what procedures are allowable in Congress.