Read the damn bill...BEFORE YOU VOTE!

[asaratis]

Text of S. 649: Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 (Placed on Calendar in the Senate version) - GovTrack.us

Gifford’s husband on Face the Nation this AM said the current senate bill is 49 pages. [This one (as of March 22, 2013) doesn’t show page separations.]

He mentioned that some people are in Washington urging the Senators to actually read the bill before voting on it. (Here goes another one of those “we’ll have to pass the bill so we can see what’s in it” thingies…)

I believe our lawmakers write complicated and confusing bills in order to discourage reading and slip in things that other members overlook due to not having understood what was actually in the text.

For example:
From s649 above:

(a) In General- Section 102(b) of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(C)--
(A) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii); and
(B) by redesignating clauses (iv), (v), and (vi) as clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv), respectively; and
(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
‘(2) SCOPE-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- The Attorney General, in determining the compliance of a State under this section or section 104 for the purpose of granting a waiver or imposing a loss of Federal funds, shall assess the total percentage of records provided by the State concerning any event occurring within the time period established by the Attorney General under subparagraph (B), which would disqualify a person from possessing a firearm under subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code.
‘(B) REGULATIONS- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013, the Attorney General shall, through regulation, establish the time period described in subparagraph (A).’.

So the reader is now expected to understand the ramifications of changes to the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended—

More reading required!

....and IT'S THE FINAL VERSION THAT COUNTS!

 

[whitehall]

Who read the Obamacare law? The rules and regs are (no exaggeration) ten feet high. Then speaker madam Pelosi said "you will have to vote for it to see what's in it". If the democrats were serious about gun laws they would have seen to it that the Attorney General was frog walked into federal court for authorizing the gun running fiasco they called Fast/Furious.

 

[OriginalShroom]

Who read the Obamacare law? The rules and regs are (no exaggeration) ten feet high. Then speaker madam Pelosi said "you will have to vote for it to see what's in it". If the democrats were serious about gun laws they would have seen to it that the Attorney General was frog walked into federal court for authorizing the gun running fiasco they called Fast/Furious.

Exactly.

 

[boedicca]

Bills that are Too Big To Read are Too Big To Pass.

 

[Rozman]

Reading a bill before a vote,discussing and debating a bill before a vote.
That's so yesterday.

 

[Mac1958]

.

Why bother reading bills when you have party leaders and campaign contributors to tell you how to vote?

.

 

[Mr. H.]

There's so much cross-referencing that it's intimidating.

 

[hjmick]

1,500 Page Immigration Bill to Drop One Day Before Only Hearing?


Leahy: Hearing on comprehensive immigration reform set for April 17 - First Read

 

[longknife]

Well, even worse, just read a report on The Gang of Eight's immigration bill of 150 pages that won't be released to the Senators until a half hour before it's due for a floor vote!

Throw 'em all out!

 

[asaratis]

1,500 Page Immigration Bill to Drop One Day Before Only Hearing?


Leahy: Hearing on comprehensive immigration reform set for April 17 - First Read

I see that Congress has degenerated into gang warfare...the Senate "Gang of Eight" against the secret "Gang" in the House. No wonder so many young punks are attracted to politics!

 

[asaratis]

Well, even worse, just read a report on The Gang of Eight's immigration bill of 150 pages that won't be released to the Senators until a half hour before it's due for a floor vote!

Throw 'em all out!

1500 pages