Wait... Hold on...

Florida just might be onto something...

I think this should be required. It would surely cut down on the pork

"This place is starting to feel like the Superdome," after Hurricane Katrina, Rubio said. "They are running out of water. They are running out of food. The restrooms are backed up."

Exactly. A group of pissy childish politicians (on both sides) who can't handle things in a mature and adult way is just like being displaced after losing all your possessions because of a hurricane and sitting around with little to no food and water while waiting for people to come help you.

They act like children. I don't know why people pretend to respect politicians; they are clearly some of the worst people in our society.

Confabulat: They act like children.

Sometimes, the only way to convince your opponents to stop acting childishly is to prove you can do it better.

abb3w: Confabulat: They act like children.

Sometimes, the only way to convince your opponents to stop acting childishly is to prove you can do it better.

Can I quote you on this to justify my being an asshole to the anti-science crowd in evolution threads? Pretty please!!!!

Confabulat: They act like children. I don't know why people pretend to respect politicians; they are clearly some of the worst people in our society.

And they have the ability to raise our taxes and spend our money however they see fit.

It would have been better for society if they had pumped the ventilation system full of Zyklon-B.

FTA:
The first bill read was an 86-page condo association measure that took two hours.

ow

JustinCase: FTA:
The first bill read was an 86-page condo association measure that took two hours.

ow

Someone took the time to write it. Least they can do is read it.

Unright

Someone took the time to write it. Least they can do is read it.

As much as I dislike the meme, THIS. It will also have them pay more attention to the crap that is brought forth as a proposed measure, instead of just signing off on it. That way, we have less money wasted on stupid crap because if they have to actually read the bill, they will only submit worthwhile bills. Less pork.

Hopefully this will encourage them to WRITE LESS NEEDLESSLY COMPLEX LEGISLATION!

All because the Repubs used a little used procedure to deny discussion on a
bill. So the Dems used the little used procedure to read. every. bill in its entirety.

This is a good idea. It should be made standard practice.

Remove all Republicans: If the government does regulate and plan everything, who else will?

I think that was unintentionally honest.

/Zero discretion = zero chance for thought.

I think it should be mandatory for bills to be read in their entirety to a legislature before they can vote on them. Add in mandatory 5-year sunset provisions for all laws and maybe we could cut down on this ridiculous situation we have now- where we just pile law on top of law rather than repealing old ones first.

ftfa

The meltdown ruined plans by Jewish lawmakers to go home for Passover



PROOF that liberal democrats are antisemites

Remove all Republicans: clgrin: Hopefully this will encourage them to WRITE LESS NEEDLESSLY COMPLEX LEGISLATION!

Complex legislation is needed for a complex society. If the government does regulate and plan everything, who else will?

I know you're doing your usual troll/snark thing, but there's a serious point there I want to address.

The idea that [insert unneeded thing here] is necessitated because society has become more complex than it used to be is a load of horseshiat. Society has become more technologically advanced, no doubt, but by what objective measure is it "more complex"? This idea that the past was a "simpler time" is one of the greatest enduring myths in the American psyche, and is almost invariably rooted in ignorance of how complex society actually was in the past.

Aren't these people elected and paid to read through this shiat and vote on it anyway? I don't really see a problem here. Who knows, maybe they learned something.

Lehk: ftfa

The meltdown ruined plans by Jewish lawmakers to go home for Passover



PROOF that liberal democrats are antisemites

It's Florida. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most of the Jewish legislators are Democrats.

So, lawmakers actually had to hear what was in the bills they were voting on? How horrible. Seriously, all this shows is that they don't read the farking things anyway.

Unright: Someone took the time to write it. Least they can do is read it.

Well, if they don't read it, the least they could do is not pass it. This would encourage the submission of brief, easy to understand bills, which would become brief, easy to understand laws.

I've always thought that if there is a profession devoted to interpreting the law of the land, the law is to complex.

Same goes for the tax code, but I guess that's just more law.

Remove all Republicans: There is more government complexity which makes society more complicated and thus you need for more government to deal with it.

Hilarious.

Remove all Republicans: clgrin: Hopefully this will encourage them to WRITE LESS NEEDLESSLY COMPLEX LEGISLATION!

Complex legislation is needed for a complex society. If the government does regulate and plan everything, who else will?

Legislation most certainly does not have to be complex. That's what regulatory agencies are for.

By the way, there's a similar proposal for Congress being pushed by Jim Babka over at Downsize DC.

The "Read the Bills Act". (pops)

And in a similar vein, the "Enumerated Powers Act" which would require all laws passed by Congress to cite "chapter and verse" where they are authorized by the Constitution. There's no mechanism for enforcing the veracity of these cites, aside from the existing judicial process, but it's still not a bad idea to force them to at least think about it. And it could actually play a role in the judicial review process, by providing a clear explanation of the Congress's position on the Constitutional of their acts, something which isn't currently allowed for.

/

Kome: abb3w: Confabulat: They act like children.

Sometimes, the only way to convince your opponents to stop acting childishly is to prove you can do it better.

Can I quote you on this to justify my being an asshole to the anti-science crowd in evolution threads? Pretty please!!!!

Proverbs 26:5
Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.

P.S.

Proverbs 26:4
Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.

Now you see the genius behind both parties who decided to test the DNC and move the Florida primary up.

We are proud of our Florida fark tag.

/Please dear god rescind our voting privileges... indefinitely

This is not a rare move at the state level. Remember when Texas republicans used homeland security resources to round up legislators and bring them in for a gerrymandering bill?

Sir Cumference the Flatulent

I was this close to covering everything in Diet Coke. Well done, sir.

If I ever run for congress my platform will consist of 2 items: The abolishment of Daylight Savings Time and a requirement that all representatives will have to pass a test on any bill before being allowed to vote on it.
/And free ponies for all

Churchill20042008-04-19 03:24:20 PM

... the "Enumerated Powers Act" which would require all laws passed by Congress to cite "chapter and verse" where they are authorized by the Constitution...

You people go out of your way to confuse the constitution with the Bible. Good thing America is finally sick of it.

Leviticus 20:13

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads



Exodus 21:20-21

When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money.



Judges 1:19

And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Dear Jerk: You people go out of your way to confuse the constitution with the Bible. Good thing America is finally sick of it.

Posted right before my secularist, apatheist self posted three ridiculous bible verses to mock the ancient death cult the Bible comes from.

I know pretty much everyone quoted in the article so I'm really getting a kick...

This is pretty typical end of the session silliness. They'll biatch at each other for a couple of days and then get back to work (for better or worse).

Really though, much of the function of government in the United States nowadays is professionalized. Do you think the State Rep from your district was elected because they understand the precise minutiae of State-level economic levers? No. They were elected on a platform of "support this union" or "oppose that change in enforcement policy". The politician's job is to ask his/her analyst, "Will this bill support this union, or oppose that change in enforcement policy?" And then to produce a coalition that will approve or reject the bill. They need to

1) Understand and care about the will of their constituency
2) Have good legislative analysts

Of course they don't understand the bills page-for-page, any more than a realtor understands how to replace a circuit breaker or fix a leaky faucet.

Hero tag is MIA. Legislators voting on bills without even having read them should be a crime.

Smellvin: Hero tag is MIA. Legislators voting on bills without even having read them should be a crime.

Good luck trying to get that passed into law tho.

Dear Jerk: You people go out of your way to confuse the constitution with the Bible. Good thing America is finally sick of it.

The Bible or the Constitution?

Relatively Obscure: Dear Jerk: You people go out of your way to confuse the constitution with the Bible. Good thing America is finally sick of it.

The Bible or the Constitution?

Based on the last tobacco thread I read, I'd say we're just about ready to shred the Constitution.

Churchill2004
Dear Jerk: You people go out of your way to confuse the constitution with the Bible. Good thing America is finally sick of it.

Posted right before my secularist, apatheist self posted three ridiculous bible verses to mock the ancient death cult the Bible comes from.


Awesome! A mental cripple fight!

FTFA:

"

As payback for the forced reading of bills, Republicans deliberately skipped over Democrat-sponsored bills on the calendar so they couldn't pass. Three had already passed the Senate, dealing with nursing, HIV education and the Bethune-Cookman University license plate important to the legislative black caucus.

"House Republicans take legislation hostage," Democrats charged in response.

Then, Republicans called an emergency afternoon meeting of the Rules Committee, so they could rearrange the calendar and prevent votes on all Democrat-sponsored bills next Tuesday. "Childish," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Fort Lauderdale, a member of the panel. "


That place Florida is in chaos.

Self-governance is a good thing and all, but sometimes you end up with wacky quirks like Florida.

Weaver95: Good luck trying to get that passed into law tho.

Step 1: Get elected to congress
Step 2: Quietly stick it in one of those earmark amendments that no one reads. :D

/Sadly, I'll never be able to do #1 because I hate babies and can't lie well for an extended period of time
//Plus, I don't have an invisible sky man so that'd automatically make a huge percentage of the population hate me

Churchill2004: And in a similar vein, the "Enumerated Powers Act" which would require all laws passed by Congress to cite "chapter and verse" where they are authorized by the Constitution.

Bad terminology aside, this is an awesome idea. It would be nice to see how the lawmakers constitutionally justify the bills they pass. That's a win for everyone in my opinion. Who wouldn't support this?

That's like the political equivalent of Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer.

"Well, I have the microphone... and you don't... SO YOU ARE GOING TO LISTEN TO EVERY WORD I HAVE TO SAY!"

sarcastrophe: Bad terminology aside

That's what Jim Babka used to describe it, and he's no member of the religious right. The term is so common that to see it used in a purely secular context isn't unusual.

Anyway, I agree. How can opposition to such an idea be justified?

sarcastrophe: Churchill2004: And in a similar vein, the "Enumerated Powers Act" which would require all laws passed by Congress to cite "chapter and verse" where they are authorized by the Constitution.

Bad terminology aside, this is an awesome idea. It would be nice to see how the lawmakers constitutionally justify the bills they pass. That's a win for everyone in my opinion. Who wouldn't support this?

Seems pointless to me.
They'd just keep pointing to the part where Congress passes legislation, because that's the only relevant part of the document.

Now, an ability for a group of legislators who question the Constitutionality of a bill to insist that the supporters document why they believe it does NOT violate X (specified Amendment/Article(s) of concern) would, I guess, be.. okay.

Churchill2004: Anyway, I agree. How can opposition to such an idea be justified?

It wouldn't - it would get buried in sub-committee and never see the light of day.

Relatively Obscure: Now, an ability for a group of legislators who question the Constitutionality of a bill to insist that the supporters document why they believe it does NOT violate X (specified Amendment/Article(s) of concern) would, I guess, be.. okay.

Your logic is reversed. The Constitution is a list of powers granted to the government by the people, not a list of rights given to the people.