Why do all Bills need to be so large and complicated?

[immto]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

 

[strollingbones]

yes they should be...they should be written at an 8 th graders level if need be....they should be able to bottom line stuff..with here is our goal and mission statement....here is how much its gonna cost to achieve the goal....for some reason everyone has forgotten how government is suppose to work and both parties are guilty of that

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

Because if our representatives actually knew what was in some of these bills they might be inclined to vote "No." Also, they want the people to remain as apathetic as possible, and if you start making bills accessible to the layman then you open the door for them to form an opinion and contact their elected officials.

 

[Vel]

If a bill wasn't 1200 pages long and convoluted, then how would senators and representatives hide their pay offs to their campaign contributors?

 

[Sweet Willy]

If a bill wasn't 1200 pages long and convoluted, then how would senators and representatives hide their pay offs to their campaign contributors?

I believe that the sun is our energy solution.....

but the sun never made a campaign contribution.

 

[Dr.House]

It's a lot easier to hide pork in a 1200 page document...

 

[garyd]

It goes back actually to the Gerald Ford administration. Congress controlled by Democrats then as now, passed a big waterworks project Gerald Ford vetoed it saying it was to expensive and wasteful which it was. Since that time the only time something that is short and moderately intelligble to the average voter makes it to the presidents desk is when congress is trying to make some sort of political point against the current president. The real point of it is to as much as possible circumscribe the presdents veto power.

Oh and let's not forget that 95% of congress critters are by training lawyers. And Lawyers tend to speak natural a peculiar dialect of Englsih called Obfuscese.

 

[William Joyce]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

Agreed. There's no Constitutional restraint on how they do it, though, so...

I would amend Article I.

All bills must have a single purpose.

 

[KittenKoder]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

Um ... they can't have us "common folk" understandin them now can they ... then who would tell us what they mean?

 

[Midnight Marauder]

They cannot dazzle with brilliance, so they try to baffle with bullshit. And recently, succeeding very well.

 

[KittenKoder]

They cannot dazzle with brilliance, so they try to baffle with bullshit. And recently, succeeding very well.

Too well ...

 

[immto]

It's a lot easier to hide pork in a 1200 page document...

That's why we need to fight it.

 

[rdking647]

I would like to see an amendment baning corporations from contributing to political candidates. then bills wouldnt have all type of convoluted exceptions

 

[Dr.House]

It's a lot easier to hide pork in a 1200 page document...

That's why we need to fight it.

You won't get an argument from me on that... I'm all for getting rid of as much as possible...

The thing is people reward their congress critters for bringing home all that juicy bacon, so we'll never make any headway until that stops...

 

[MaggieMae]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

Um ... they can't have us "common folk" understandin them now can they ... then who would tell us what they mean?

At least with the Internet, you can read them in PDF form. For example, all of the draft proposals on health care by the various sponsors can be downloaded from C-Span's website, so anyone truly interested can follow the legislative activity and be well informed.

Health Care - C-SPAN

After a bill returns to the Senate for vote in final draft form, you can usually download that also. You can check the Table of Contents, then advance to whatever page interests you most.

 

[MaggieMae]

It's a lot easier to hide pork in a 1200 page document...

That's why we need to fight it.

You won't get an argument from me on that... I'm all for getting rid of as much as possible...

The thing is people reward their congress critters for bringing home all that juicy bacon, so we'll never make any headway until that stops...

It won't stop, because that's what they DO. Representatives more so than Senators. They are elected to represent the interests of their specific districts within their states. People continue to screech about "pork" when in reality, it's only 2% or less of all spending annually.

 

[Liability]

Am I the only one who thinks that the bills congress creates are too long and over complicated. Shouldn't they be more easily understood?

my conspiracy theory answer (and I'm not kidding) is:

if they make it long, complicated, convoluted and so forth, they get the benefit of hiding stuff in plain sight.

I do not believe (for the most part) in coincidences.

And it makes it harder for the Congressthieves to read it or understand it, too.

That makes it that much more desirable to push for a quick vote on legislation that nobody in Congress has read.

 

[Nik]

I know. They should all be so simple. Like "No vehicles allowed in the park". Now thats a simple law that anyone can understand

 

[Dr.House]

It won't stop, because that's what they DO. Representatives more so than Senators. They are elected to represent the interests of their specific districts within their states. People continue to screech about "pork" when in reality, it's only 2% or less of all spending annually.

Could you provide me a source for that 2% or less?