Read The Bill: Ya Think?!
I’ve been fairly quiet on the political front of late, preferring to read what others are saying and commenting on their blogs. There are plenty of people who are much more actively involved in following what is going on in Washington, DC, so I don’t mind that they’re the ones doing the heavy lifting.
ObamaCare And Your Life
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However, I’m finding that the debate on the proposed national health care plan is something that I cannot let pass by as the ramifications for my family personally and for our nation corporately will likely be felt for many years.
For the record, I certainly believe that health care reform is critically important, but if you’ve followed some of my postings on SayEducate.com this week, then you know that I think reform begins with fixing what we have first before expanding the system.
I’m not looking to debate the health care plan as I am finding it difficult to gather accurate information about what exactly is being proposed. I know that some people, including Peter Fleckenstein, have gotten a hold of the bill and are digging through it for the rest of us, but I’m also learning that the bill itself is constantly changing.
Congress Takes A Break
Maybe it is a good thing that Congress is about to start their August recess — we’ll have plenty of time to examine the 1017 page health bill which our elected officials seem unwilling to do. But that is the point of this article — Congress isn’t reading this bill nor are they reading many of the other bills being rushed through and put on the president’s desk for his signature. This is appalling — many of our congressmen and senators are lawyers; who ever heard of an attorney not reading everything with a fine tooth comb first?!
It seems that I’m not the only one who is perplexed by this practice with one organization, the Sunlight Foundation, doing something about it. Specifically, the Sunlight Foundation created a website called, ReadThe Bill.org, which is championing a bill — H.Res.504 — from Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) which will require legislation being voted on in the House to be available online for 72 hours prior to debate.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
This Congress is considering trillions of dollars in new spending and isn’t even taking the time to read most of what they’re getting. For some reason, and I’m sure we can all offer our own ideas, Congress thinks that they have to rush through whatever is put before them without taking the time to find out what they’re voting on.
I say, let’s make our Congress slow down and consider each bill first while giving the citizenry a chance to review the proposed legislation too. A 72 hour posting period to the internet is extremely fair and is actually 48 hours shorter than what President Obama promised on June 22, 2007:
When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you will have five days to look online and find out what’s in it before I sign it.
Fair enough! But we’ll settle for three days, Mr. President, if you encourage Congress to support Rep. Brian Baird’s bill and sign it into law.
Tags: Barack Obama, Brian Baird, Congress, H.Res.504, House, HR 3200, ObamaCare, President Obama, ReadTheBill.org, Senate, Sunlight Foundation
Politics | Matthew C. Keegan, 31 Jul 09 | 
Comments (16)
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