Perspective is sometimes a drizzle, sometimes a steady pour. Today's rainmakers: Danny Shaw and Andrew Rabinowitz at OpenCongress, via Glenn Thrush of Politico:
The Top Ten Lengthiest Bills Written by Congress in the Past Ten Years
1. 314,900 words, "Affordable Health Care for America Act," 2009, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.)
2. 314,832 words, "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users," 2005, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)
3. 314,573 words, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," 2009, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
4. 296,111 words, "Consolidated Appropriations Act," 2005, Rep. James Kolbe (R-Ariz.)
5. 276,849 words, "Consolidated Appropriations Act," 2008 Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)
6. 274,559 words, "No Child Left Behind Act," 2001, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio)
7. 258,205 words, "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008," Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.)
8. 250,286 words, "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008," Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
9. 246,984 words, "Consolidated Appropriations Resolution," 2003, Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.)
10. 226,492 words, "Energy Policy Act," 2005, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)
As you can see (and as bolded), five of the longest congressional bills written within the past decade were penned by Republicans (who says they aren't artsy and poetic), with GOP Rep. Don Young's (R-Ah Lass Kaa) epic novel on transportation (and vampires!) a mere 68 words less than that big bureaucratic Democrat freedom-killer, or health care thing. John Boehner (R-Loompaland) cashes in at number six with the No Child Left Behind (or Advanced Much Further From Their Current Position) short memorandum that encouraged, appropriately, reading.
We are constantly reminded by our friends in the Republican Party that health care reform will effectively overhaul 16% of our entire national economy. Is it that unreasonable to believe it could take just shy of 2,000 pages to do it right, like it apparently did with energy policy, education reform, and transportation investment?
On second thought, what do they possibly say in 2,000 pages that they can't scribble on a couple of napkins and get pretty much the same effect? Hell, @SenJohnMcCain could probably say what needs saying in like, 13 tweets, tops. After all, does anyone remember when Republicans wrote a bill that was 3 pages long and effectively overhauled 100% of our economy? Now that's efficiency.
Step into the rain: secondrain.blogspot.com
My problem has never been with the length of the bills, only that no one can claim to know them completely if they're that long and the legislators don't have enough time to read them! You can't vote on hundreds of thousands of words that were written the night before! Some may groan about how long the bills are, but they should ALWAYS be made public so that American citizens know what their elected representatives are doing and voting on. Length is important but not the be all end all; transparency is the key.
ReplyDeleteA worthy rebuttal to my superior wit and intellect. Still no ice cream though.
ReplyDelete