To Lillie, Age 90 — About Quickie Legislation
April 18th, 2008
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Lillie writes and asks:
“Why does it take five months or more to get this “Bill” finished. Why does our goverment always help the “Seniors”. Who can we contact to get this moving before I die… 90 years young and want this. born April 14,1918″
Happy birthday Lillie! How great to be 90, to follow legislation and to use the Internet.
The real answer to your question is that legislation can sometimes zip through the legislative process — just look at the economic stimulus package. But such speed is rare. Why? Well, one reason is a single sentence or paragraph can create a huge industry. Or doom one.
But more importantly, it’s generally not a good idea to speed legislation through the system. There’s a reason for hearings, mark-ups, conferences, debates and disputes — they moderate some of the extreme ideas that otherwise would whiz through the Congress and the White House.
Go back to the economic stimulus package. It was started by President Bush and roared through Congress with bipartisan support. After all, how could any politician refuse a cash distribution to taxpayers in an election year?
But the $162 billion or so that the package will cost is being paid with borrowed money. It won’t stop foreclosures, improve the value of the dollar, reduce the cost or gasoline or do much of anything else. Borrowed money merely pushes down the value of the dollar because it’s inflationary — if a dollar buys less you need more dollars to buy a standard package of goods and services.
You can contact your senators and representatives to make your views known. Names and contact information can be found at USA.gov.
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