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Why don't politicians read bills?

NeverTrump

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When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

It is utterly ridiculous. It is also ridiculous that a bill could be over 1000 pages. That should be warning sign number 1 that it isn't what it is portrayed to be.
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Congress writes bills not the executive.

I think one problem is citizens dont really know or care to know how our government works.

So Congress writes and passes laws not the executive.

Knowledge is power.
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

It's only acceptible because you, collectively, allow it to happen. If the people don't hold their politicians accountable, then they can rightly assume it's either not important to you, collectively, or you agree with their actions, collectively.
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Ya mean like Obamacare and the Immigration bill?
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Do you expect insurence company ceos to read every insurance policy their company sells?

Members of Congress hire staff to lessen the work load for them, although the cynically inclined might see this as a redundancy because congress hardly works.
 
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What almost everyone ^^^ above said. Politicos don't read bills because they don't have to. Americans will continue to vote for them to stay in office. That is an undeniable fact. And they know it. The public really doesn't care.
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Well, it's also likely the special interests who pad their incomes expect the politicians not to read the bills they write for them.
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

They don't have time.

Which is the point behind them reading them - to take the TIME because they care so much.

If they want to reduce the number of them that flow in they should insist that those submitting similar bills work together before putting up 10 copies. . . . and so on - they could reduce the workload if they wanted to.
 
Ya mean like Obamacare and the Immigration bill?

Those would be the two latest examples.

The Bill of Rights fits on one page, and is without a doubt the most significant piece of legislation ever passed. If Congress were to re-write it (Heaven forbid!) it would require a fork lift to haul it around, no one would have a clue what it said, and it would wind up costing a billion dollars a minute.
 
Those would be the two latest examples.

The Bill of Rights fits on one page, and is without a doubt the most significant piece of legislation ever passed. If Congress were to re-write it (Heaven forbid!) it would require a fork lift to haul it around, no one would have a clue what it said, and it would wind up costing a billion dollars a minute.

And brevity would preclude stuffing it with all manner of unrelated goodies designed to advance an agenda or a career that would draw unwanted attention.
 
People do read some things :shock:

There are numerous issues: The volume of bills; the speed of amendments; the complexity of having a billion different things in legislation, a lot of which has nothing to do with the stated purpose of the bill.

A lot of this has to do with political payback IMHO. People who get mad about it being done with healthcare forget that this was the same way Newt got most of his Contract With America passed---he limited debate; held all other legislation hostage, and coerced it through to unclog the legislative pipeline that he used his position to create a clog in.
 
e.g. another thread (confession: my thread) notes that the immigration bill has some Bernie Sanders stimulus spending as well as some language that says Janet Napolitano can do whatever the hell she wants regarding deportation or immigration status cases.
 
And brevity would preclude stuffing it with all manner of unrelated goodies designed to advance an agenda or a career that would draw unwanted attention.

Absolutely. What is really needed is a bill that prohibits riders that have nothing to do with the actual bill under consideration.

But, of course, Congress would have to be the ones to pass such a bill, meaning it would be another fork lift load (or perhaps just a load) that meant nothing and probably included a half dozen bridges to nowhere and a few other riders that would never have passed on their own merits.
 
Absolutely. What is really needed is a bill that prohibits riders that have nothing to do with the actual bill under consideration.

But, of course, Congress would have to be the ones to pass such a bill, meaning it would be another fork lift load (or perhaps just a load) that meant nothing and probably included a half dozen bridges to nowhere and a few other riders that would never have passed on their own merits.

Trudat.
 
1. Time
2. They don't understand legaleese
3. Plausible Deniability
4. Apathy
 
I'd just point out -- both parties are guilty of this, and both parties have written some pretty long bills that nobody has read. Which is why I don't understand the sudden outrage over something that's been building and going on for years.

That said, we're expecting the government to do too much. There needs to be all sorts of language now about this and that, how this is calculated, etc. Of course the reason the Bill of Rights fits on one page is that it's a general statement of principles, not specifics about what might be considered "abridgement" or "infringement."
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Its normal because most voters are either ignorant of the fact our elected officials do not do their their job to read the bills or the ones who do know our elected officials don't read the bills think it is fine.

I did a poll almost 4 years ago and you would be surprised about how many people think it is okay to vote yes for a bill that they did not read.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/polls...read-bill-themselves-before-signing-them.html
 
Its normal because most voters are either ignorant of the fact our elected officials do not do their their job to read the bills or the ones who do know our elected officials don't read the bills think it is fine.

I did a poll almost 4 years ago and you would be surprised about how many people think it is okay to vote yes for a bill that they did not read.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/polls...read-bill-themselves-before-signing-them.html

LOL - relieved to see my 'yes' vote hasn't changed in 4 years . . .
 
When did this become ok and considered normal? I guess politicians feel that they can do anything they want without being held responsible. And in this administration, that is true!

Two reasons:

1) Many politicians do not know how to read the the bills (words are above his/her reading level).

2) Reading bills is the responsibility of the lobbyists. A pol's job ends after he/she wins election.
 
e.g. another thread (confession: my thread) notes that the immigration bill has some Bernie Sanders stimulus spending as well as some language that says Janet Napolitano can do whatever the hell she wants regarding deportation or immigration status cases.

Some days are apparently designated as absurd, and since this seems to be one of them, I've been pondering this, and I may have a solution.

Since Napolitano is only one person, and probably unable to personally oversee the millions of immigration status cases that will come to her, she will have to delegate some of the work. So far, it hasn't been difficult to do, since we have millions of illegal immigrants already here, with more arriving every day, and they seem to be settling in, and getting the freebies due to them with no problems.

Now, since Bernie Saunders wants jobs for 16 to 24 year olds made a part of this immigration bill, why not put that group in her area, and let them earn their salaries by approving all the immigration status cases? That seems like killing two birds with one stone, doesn't it? I don't know how long $2 billion dollars would last, but more money could always be obtained, I guess. Plus, it grows government, which BHO apparently wants, so it's really three birds with one stone. Win=win=win! :eek: :scared: Sheesh!
 
Perhaps the congress should automatically reject any bill that has more text than the constitution itself.
 
Not enough time in the day. Staffers, interest groups, and other colleagues do that (from all sides, mind you), while they go about doing all the other things that you voters want them to do in a day. Many times, they also trust their colleagues in a better position to judge the merits of legislation, to give them the heads up on a bill and what's what.

Don't like it? Too bad. Quit whining.
 
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