Congress Needs Its Own 'Bill of Rights'
By Bradley Blakeman
Newsmax.com
In light of the more than 2,400 pages in the
Obama healthcare bill, (which the
Supreme Court is now trudging through more
thoughtfully, deliberately and comprehensively than
most senators and congressmen who voted for it did),
it is time to demand a major change in the rules of
drafting and moving legislation for the House and
Senate.
In addition, the strong-arm tactics of holding
hostage a bill because the amendments added thereto
are not germane to the main subject matter must end.
The fact that either party would stymie a bill with
non-subject matter amendments is all about politics
and has little if nothing to do with governing.
Is it any wonder why Congress is held in such low
esteem by the public when bills are not read because
they are too voluminous or unintelligible by the
mere mortal — and where amendments are added to
bills to get more votes or to kill them?
Now is the time to rethink this whole process, with
the following new “Bill of Rights” specifically
aimed at moving meaningful legislation through both
chambers of Congress:
- Bills are limited to no more than 125 pages.
- Bills must be written in plain English.
- Bills cannot contain any amendment that is not germane to the main subject matter of the bill itself.
- Bills must be published online within 24 hours of being referred for committee consideration.
- Bills must be published online within 48 hours of any votes being taken on the bill by committee or by the full House or Senate.
- Bills must contain a “citations” page, which identifies all persons who had an actual hand in writing the bill, including government and non-government persons; and must identify the section(s) they had a hand in.
- Bills must contain a preamble which attests to the constitutionality of the bill, citing the exact constitutional language and section(s) that permit the bill.
- No earmarks will be allowed to any bill. As a compromise, the leadership of the House and Senate Republicans and Democrats may offer an annual “Discretionary Spending Bill” which will contain the names of members requesting the expenditure as well as the name of the beneficiary, purpose of the expenditure and amount of money being requested.
- Bills will not add to the deficit.
- Bills must be funded by current revenues and pay as you go.
Bills must stand and fall based on the subject
matter and not on amendments added by members when
no one is looking — or in an effort to defeat, or
sabotage the bill itself.
Our founding fathers wrote the documents creating
the greatest nation the world has ever known using
plain English. Although highly educated and talented
people, they drafted them in such a way that they
could be understood by both the common and cultured
members of society.
There is not a doubt in my mind that the average
American high school student today can fully
understand and appreciate the words and the meaning
of the Declaration of Independence, The
Constitution, and the Amendments thereto, including
the Bill of Rights.
The same cannot be said of President Obama’s
healthcare bill. You need a doctoral degree in
economics and a law degree to fully appreciate the
convoluted and highly technical legislation that
will affect every single American.
There is no way even the average legislator can
fully understand such a highly technical bill — even
with the benefit of an extensive staff.
Highly specialized staffers, government lawyers,
lobbyists, industry executives and their lawyers and
“experts” write these bills. They are purposely
written to obscure their true intent, meaning, and
effect. In addition, to fully understand and
appreciate a bill you must be able to understand and
appreciate the various agency rules and regulations
that are incorporated by reference — adding
thousands of more pages that must be read in
conjunction with a particular bill.
If as a legislator, you have not read a bill, how
can you vote on it?
If as a legislator, you cannot understand a bill,
how can you vote on it?
If the American people cannot understand a bill, how
can they support it?
Many States have enacted “plain language” statutes
that require consumer contracts to be, “written in a
clear and coherent manner using words with common
and everyday meanings . . . ” as in the case of NY
General Obligations Law Section: 5-702.
It is ironic that the federal government enacted the
“Truth in Lending Act” which requires certain
disclosures be made to consumers, yet there is no
requirement for such disclosures to be written in
“plain language”
Our Constitution starts out with, “We the People”
not “We the elite,” or “We the Legislators.” People
need to understand what their government is doing on
their behalf.
The only way to insure our legislators are engaged
and leading us as opposed to being led by others who
are not responsible to the people is to streamline
the process so they can do their jobs effectively.
The only way to insure a more informed and engaged
public is to provide them with information they can
understand.
The only way to make our government more responsible
and responsive to the needs of the people is to
adhere to a process that keeps government
disciplined, focused, fair and understandable.
The aforementioned rules are not political at all.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
The rules I have set forth are favorable to both
Republicans and Democrats. There is no way either
party can gain an unfair advantage over the other.
Perhaps that will be the very reason they would not
be enacted.
The gridlock we have witnessed with the budget had
more do to with non-germane amendments to the bill
than the bill itself. These time wasting political
shenanigans have infuriated Americans of all
political stripes.
Let’s face it, citizens are fed up. They are faced
everyday with the tough task of just making ends
meet. We are plagued by high unemployment, a
continuing housing crisis, soaring gas prices,
inflation, government debt and war.
We are desperate to have our government officials
help us change our condition for the better and not
to make matters worse.
Now is the time for all good persons to come to the
aid of their country. We need to get back to basics
and permit government to function as the founding
fathers intended.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy
assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04.
He is currently a professor of Politics and Public
Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent
contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports
from Bradley Blakeman —
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