Yuratuhl wrote:
You know, it's been bugging me recently. We really love to complain about our legislators not reading every bill they vote on (or filibuster with malicious intent but no reasoning), but we (general "we") are content to sit on the forums while at work. Now, I love slacking as much as everyone else, but why not extend the right to do a half-assed job to the people who make the rules (though they'd probably fuck it up even if they devoted all the time they're being paid for to it)? It's only fair.
I mean, no one told them when they ran for office that their job description was "read thousand page bills and then get mired in debate over the actual merits of proposed legislation." They were all expecting "do nothing until the 3 months before the next series of elections except enjoy corporate kickbacks while petitioning for said corporate demands."
I know you're probably just joking around but I'm in non-funny mode, so here's my non-funny responses.
1) They can't slack off when they're representing millions of people. If you and I want to slack off then we can - we get fired at the drop of the dime if we don't perform well. Our legislators don't just get fired on a whim - we have to vote them out every couple years. If we could instantly fire legislators that said, "I didn't read it before I passed it," then this wouldn't be an issue for me.
2) If they don't want to read thousands of pages of legislation then they shouldn't make thousands of pages of legislation. I don't buy the argument, "If we didn't create a bill this large then nothing would get done." Tackle the individual issues in the legislation, debate them individually, and pass what you can when it's reached near-perfection.
