Constitutional Conservative

[Ironcloudranch]

Hello all,
I ran for local office in WI many years ago, made it through the primaries and lost by a few votes to a man that been town chairman for many years, hired all of his family to do jobs for the township etc..

Politics start at the local level, and I suggest that everyone who gets involved in forums, should run for office.
My motto back then was "We The People Need to Decide" go figure thats just what we are trying to do again.

Government is supposed to be for the people not for themselves.

Ear Marks are just a form of Campaign money that the politicians get for their constitutants and then get a percentage of it back for campaigning ie... Harry Reids $61million shooting park in Vegas. What a waste of our money I lived in Vegas for 12 years, we could go out in the desert and shoot for free. I'm sure he got $$$$$ for his campaign for this earmark.

Bills should only have 1 item in them and voted up or down... End of story!!!

 

[(R)IGHTeous 1]

Welcome.....

 

[Lumpy 1]

Welcome...

So far so good...

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Thousand page monstrosities which no one but the lobbyist bother to read are a badness. But the world is too complicated for simple but good sounding rules.

I am not saying you are all that wrong either. Once a piece of legislation gets too complicated, it might be a good idea to toss it out and start over.

 

[California Girl]

Welcome. I agree with you about bills. No more piggybacking.

 

[Mr. H.]

Hody.

 

[goldcatt]

Interesting intro. Wade on in and let's see what you've got.

Welcome!

 

[daveman]

Welcome to USMB!

 

[editec]

I quite agree that non sequiter add-ons to bills ought not to be allowed.

But some bill NEED to be complex.

It's the game of putting stuff that has nothing whatever to do with the bill in question that is troublesome.

And both parties do it because that way they can put their poison pills into bills that the opposition really wants to pass.

Come on kids, wake up and smell the details of how this game is played.

Both of these parties are killing the nation we all claim to love, ya know.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Riders have been part of Congress and legislatures forever. To control riders, the Congress, both the Senate and the House, need to rewrite the rules. That ain't going to happen, IMHO.
The best way to eliminate riders is for the President to veto a bill which includes riders, and advise the Congress of which provisions the bill includes which are objectionable. That ain't going to happen, IMHO.
Restricting a bill to a few simple paragraphs isn't practical; laws must be technical and (at least an attempt be made) to be constructed so as to cover every eventuality. Unintended consequences are the norm.
Notwithstanding the outrage today, the system works when a free press and an informed citizenry look and listen to what's happening. Sadly a few corporations control the news media, and the WWW allows anyone with an agenda to blog points of view for personal advantage or worse and not for the common good.
The problem is systemic and directly attached to human nature. All riders please some of the people and the same rider pisses off others. Most of us don't have a clue when riders are attached to a bill.
Many (most?) bills are created as expediencies, and the unintended consequences are not ferreted out because emotion and self interest almost always trumps reason.

 

[Big Fitz]

I'd go a step farther and call earmarks another form of political corruption. Every bill should stand on their own.

Welcome to the fray. We play rough here, so always wear your helmet, and here's your standard issue lolcat.

 

[Wry Catcher]

I'd go a step farther and call earmarks another form of political corruption. Every bill should stand on their own.

Welcome to the fray. We play rough here, so always wear your helmet, and here's your standard issue lolcat.

Earmarks are a canard, but if a solution is needed simply give the president the line item veto. Of course don't expect red states to get roads when a blue stater hold the office, and don't expect the blue state to get roads when a red stater holds the office.
The one advantage to the line item veto - all POTUS will serve one term only.
[presidents are like quarterbacks, the one on the bench is always the better choice].

 

[Big Fitz]

Riders have been part of Congress and legislatures forever.

A mistake that hasn't been corrected in too long.

Earmarks are a canard, but if a solution is needed simply give the president the line item veto.

[presidents are like quarterbacks, the one on the bench is always the better choice]

Tell that to the Vikings.

canard? No. Line Item Veto, yes.