Understanding the bills

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/understanding-the-bills

Quote of the Day: "If Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, needs a lawyer's help to understand the health care legislation, what chance does the average citizen have of deciphering the bill?"- Press-Enterprise editorial (Riverside, CA)

Subject: Understanding the Bills

Many Americans are doing what Congress won't do -- they're actually reading the healthcare bill!

* On September 2, a team of 38 people took part in a public reading of the bill in Scranton, PA.
* And Hearthebill.org allows people to hear the bill read online

These efforts are well-intended, but how many people can actually understand what they read? One individual read the bill but couldn't understand it, and went to a Town Hall meeting to get answers. He came away from the meeting saying the bill was "still foggy" in his mind.

How about you -- would you understand the bill if you read it? See for yourself.

Here's just one section:

SEC. 162. ENDING HEALTH INSURANCE RESCISSION ABUSE.

(a) Clarification Regarding Application of Guaranteed Renewability of Individual Health Insurance Coverage- Section 2742 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-42) is amended--

(1) in its heading, by inserting `and continuation in force, including prohibition of rescission,' after `guaranteed renewability'; and

(2) in subsection (a), by inserting `, including without rescission,' after `continue in force'.

To understand this provision you'd also need to know what 42 U.S.C. 300gg-42 says. And this isn't an isolated case; the United States Code is referred to or revised a whopping 439 times in a 1,017-page bill!

Fortunately, DownsizeDC.org's One Subject At A Time Act (OSTA) has anticipated this problem. OSTA's main purpose is to prevent unrelated, unpopular bills from being bundled together with popular or must-pass bills. But it also contains a provision requiring all bills to include the full text of any part of existing law that will be amended by the bill.That way both Congress and the public will know exactly what's being changed.

Please send Congress a letter asking them to pass DownsizeDC.org's "One Subject at a Time Act."

Use your personal comments to mention that citizens all over America are reading the healthcare bill and finding it impossible to understand. If you want, you can cut and paste the SEC. 162 example into your message. Tell them this kind of thing makes you doubt that they really understand what the healthcare bill would actually do. Point out that OSTA would solve this problem by requiring all bills to include the full text of any part of existing law that the healthcare bill amends.

You can send your message here.

We also recommend that you send a second message to Congress. Demand that they introduce the Read the Bills Act. Remind them that this issue isn't going away, and that they'll really feel the heat if they pass a healthcare reform bill without reading it. You can send that message here.

Read the Bills Act Coalition. This week we welcome seven new members to the RTBA Coalition:

• Conservative Libertarian Outpost
• Patriot Resistance
• River's Ramblings
• National Seniors Council
• Liberty!
• Mrs. Paddy
• RightMarch.com

Click here to join.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

There must be more to the bill

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/there-must-be-more-to-the-bill

Quotes of the Day: "The Democrats' failure to pass a troop funding bill that will actually get our armed forces the money they need is nothing less than a disgrace." -- House Minority Leader John Boehner, June, 2008

"It's going to be an interesting fall as Republicans try to explain their vote against legislation that they've described as funding for our troops in a time of war, because I'm confident their constituents will be reminded." - a White House Official, June 2009

Subject: There must be more to the bill

The Democrats are pro-war, the Republicans anti-war.

Don't believe me? Check the House roll call vote for the final version of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, which funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just 5 Republicans were for it, and only 32 Democrats against.

What could me more convincing than that?

"But wait!" you will probably say, "There must be more to the story."

You're right of course. In fact, on May 14th there were 51 Democrats and only 9 Repubicans against the bill.

What happened?

As we noted two weeks ago, the bill was already loaded with extras that had nothing to do with the wars.

But when the Senate got their hands on it they added still more unrelated items . . .

* Funnelling billions of dollars to a failed, neo-colonial (i.e. "foreign aid") scheme called the International Monetary Fund
* The Graham-Lieberman measure, an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act to continue the coverup of the detainee abuse scandal

House Republicans wanted the IMF provisions stripped from the final bill, and the detainee abuse coverup retained. Instead, they got the exact opposite of what they wanted, and so they voted no, even though this meant they would not be "supporting the troops."

It's funny. Four years ago, Republicans supported the bill to "support the troops" even when Real ID was attached. Last year, they voted to "support the troops" even though the Democrats added $95 billion in domestic pork spending to it.

Why the change of heart now? Probably because a Democrat's in the White House. It's not "their" war anymore. As our quotes of the day demonstrate, charges of hypocrisy are flying fast and furious, and will likely continue for some time.

And it's all because Congress isn't living under the constraints of DownsizeDC.org's One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA), constraints that would do them, and the country, a lot of good. We ask you today to send a message insisting that Congress introduce and pass OSTA. Tell them . . .

* War spending should be dealt with in one bill, with no unrelated items added to it
* Aid to the IMF should be its own stand-alone bill
* Graham-Lieberman should be its own stand-alone bill

Tell Democrats that adding provisions to the war spending bill is disgraceful, and to atone they should introduce DownsizeDC.org's One Subject At A Time Act. Tell Republicans that if they don't introduce OSTA, they'll have no right to complain the next time similar stunts are pulled.

You can send your message at DownsizeDC.org's One Subject at a Time campaign page.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

Common Sense

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/common-sense

Quote of the Day: "Students of American history will recall that the important place where work gets done in the legislative body, almost without exception, is in the committees, more so than on the floor although sometimes more attention is paid to the floor." - Paul Sarbanes

Subject: Common sense

Each year the Iraq-Afghanistan spending bill comes loaded with extras that remind us how much we need the One Subject At A Time Act.

Because few in Congress will vote against a bill that "supports the troops," this bill provides an opportunity for legislative abuse . . .

• Four years ago, the otherwise unpopular Real ID Act was attached to the Iraq bill and became law
• Last year, $95 billion in domestic spending was added to the Iraq bill in exchange for Democratic support for the warrantless spying and telecom immunity bill.

The House and Senate conference committee will soon meet to work out differences in this year's bill. It is unknown what tricks they'll have up their sleeve, but the bill, H.R. 2346, is already bad enough. In addition to funding the wars, there is money for the BATFE, federal prisons, foreign aid, the War on Drugs, forest fire management, and other programs. The total price tag is over $900 per family.

Downsize DC's proposed One Subject At A Time Act (OSTA) would prevent the bundling of these different topics into one bill. Instead, each subject would be voted on as a separate bill. Necessary bills will still pass, but unpopular measures won't. The country would be spared the cost of programs most members of Congress didn't want in the first place.

If members of Congress had common sense, they would actually want to live under OSTA's constraints. Then they could vote for a reasonable and necessary bill without being forced to accept unnecessary, unrelated provisions. Whether the U.S. should fight these wars, and whether the federal government should provide more money for wildland fire management, are two completely unrelated questions. Members of Congress who support one but oppose the other shouldn't be forced to either accept both or reject both.

Demand common sense from Congress. Tell them to pass the One Subject At A Time Act. In your personal comments . . .

• tell them you object to the price tag of H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Approriations Act
• demand that it be broken up into different bills by department and subject
• insist that they oppose any backroom deals in the conference committee that will make the bill even worse

You can send your message at DownsizeDC.org's "One Subject at a Time" campaign page.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

The Worst of All Worlds

Quotes of the Day

"It will be necessary for us to be a nation of men, and not laws." - Dick Cheney

"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans..." - Bill Clinton

Subject: The Worst of All Worlds

Why did nearly half the Democrats in the House vote for the "FISA Amendments Act" that's now pending in the Senate, when most of them had opposed warrantless spying and telecom immunity before? The answer is that they were bribed, using your tax dollars.

The Washington Post claims a deal was cut: the Democratic Leadership would support the FISA bill if the President would agree to add $95 billion in DOMESTIC spending to the latest Iraq appropriation.

In other words, House Democrats voted to continue the war and sold the Fourth Amendment for $95 billion.

Republicans say they want less spending. Democrats say they want less war. What's their compromise? More spending and more war.

Indeed, House Democrats supported the Iraq bill at a higher rate than Republicans did.

So much for the "anti-war message" sent by the American people in the 2006 elections!

This sort of "compromise" brings us the worst of all worlds. It's the kind of world expressed in the views of Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton above. Politicians of both parties get annoyed when gadflies start talking about the Constitution and America's proud traditions of individual rights, liberty, and the rule of law. To them, "laws" and "rights" are just bargaining chips to use in passing their spending bills.

The current course they're plotting will lead to economic collapse, fiscal bankruptcy, an Orwellian Big Brother police state, and a faltering, over-extended military empire. Who knows what kind of chaos or despotism will follow.

But the people don't have to wait for things to fall apart. Instead, we can put massive, persistent, resistance-numbing pressure on Congress. Apply the pressure, and members of Congress will bend, and then they will flip-flop. They will have to, if they want to keep their jobs.

So let's tell Congress that the American people do not tolerate their cavalier attitude toward Constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Tell them to pass the "One Subject at a Time Act," which would have forced them to separate the Iraq bill from domestic bills. Tell them you're aware the Democrats in the House sold out in return for increased domestic spending. Tell them you don't like having your tax dollars used as bribes.

Tell them to pass the "Read the Bills Act," which would have forced them to actually read the 116 pages of H.R. 6304, the "FISA Amendments Act."

And keep telling the Senate to oppose the "FISA Amendments Act."

In your comments on all of these messages tell them you're proud we're a nation of laws, not men. Tell them OSTA and RTBA will help restore liberty by making it more difficult to sweep aside Constitutional rights in legislative horse trading.

Also, please consider joining the "Read the Bills Act Coalition." When you add "Read the Bills Act Coalition" button, banner, or tower ad on your website, we'll link to it from our blog and announce it in a Downsizer-Dispatch like this one, reaching almost 23,500 subscribers. To learn more, click here.

This week we welcome two new members to the Coalition:

Reinke Faces Life
The Virginian Rebel

Finally, in the last two weeks of June the House passed 44 bills totaling 969 pages, while the Senate passed 34 bills and 269 pages of legislation. A list of bills is available below my signature at the Downsize DC blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

Unrelated bills rolled into one

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Media notice: Tune-in to hear Jim Babka on the Jerry Hughes show today. Details below my signature.

Quote of the Day:

"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced." - Frank Zappa

Subject: Unrelated bills rolled into one

H.R. 2642 was introduced in June, 2007 to finance military construction and Veterans Affairs. Since then, Congress has added 230 pages of amendments to what was once a 50-page bill. Among the additions is the "Iraq Supplemental" to fund the the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

H.R. 2642 is bad, but it could have been worse . . .

Two weeks ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to add a 100-page amendment granting amnesty to over a million illegal immigrant farm workers. However, Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez raised a point of order against the amendment, and Majority Leader Harry Reid agreed to remove it.

Perhaps they remembered the backlash when Congress added the REAL ID Act to the Iraq Supplemental in 2005. Perhaps they're feeling pressure to pass the One Subject At A Time Act (OSTA) and know that adding an unpopular amnesty bill into the Iraq Supplemental would only intensify calls to pass OSTA.

In any case, H.R. 2642 still contains numerous unrelated provisions:

• "Emergency" funds for the FBI, BAFTE, DEA, Bureau of Prisons, and many other federal agencies
• Additional funds for Katrina recovery and other disaster relief
• A waiver of certain sanctions against North Korea
• A study on the effect of the minimum wage on the Northern Mariana Islands
• A law against unemployment insurance fraud
• A requirement for states to implement an "asset verification program" for individuals seeking medical assistance
• And dozens of other provisions unrelated to Defense or Veterans Affairs.

Congress normally passes several short, one-subject bills every week, so why couldn't they have voted on the above provisions as separate bills too? Possible answers include . . .

1. The provisions couldn't pass if voted on separately
2. Congress didn't want to give them due consideration

Sadly, all these unrelated provisions add up. According to Washington Watch, H.R. 2642 is going to cost the average American family almost $1,700.

Tell Congress they were right to pull amnesty out of the Iraq Supplemental. But tell them they shouldn't throw so many unrelated laws and spending programs into one bill. Tell them this undermines America's faith in Congress and is costly to taxpayers. Tell them to strip H.R. 2642 down to one subject, or vote against it. And tell them to pass Downsize DC's One Subject At A Time Act. You can do so here.

In addition, this message is also posted on our blog, and you can leave comments there if you so desire.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Thank-you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

P.S. Friday afternoon appearance on Straight Talk with Jerry Hughes . . .

Downsize DC President Jim Babka's hour-long appearance begins at 3:05 PM Eastern time (2:05 PM Central, 1:05 PM Mountain, 12:05 PM Pacific). To listen online go to "http://www.accentradionetwork.com/chooseplayer.htm"

They'll be talking about the Real ID Act and who knows what else. But it'll be even better if you call and participate.

The toll-free call-in number: 1-866-222-2368
Or use email: Jerry at AccentRadio dot com

* As always, regarding media appearances, schedule changes or cancellations can happen without warning.

Big Business Loves Big Government

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/2008/may/05/big_business_loves_big_government

Quote of the Day:

"Why not take advantage of the clever Downsize DC system like I just did? Invest five minutes today to sign up, and then from time to time you, too, can help bombard congress and pressure them into doing the right thing with your money."

- "creator," a blogger at Truth Realm

Subject: Big Business Loves Big Government

Politicians tell us that government protects the people from the cut-throat practices of Big Business. But in truth, Big Government is in bed with Big Business. If I were CEO of a major corporation - let's call it the Big Widget Corporation - I would love Big Government. That's because I could:

• lobby Congress to subsidize the widget industry, explaining how vital widgets are to the economy.

• lobby for tariff protection against imported widgets. This will allow my company to gouge American consumers with higher prices.

• lobby for regulations that would drive my smaller competitors out of business.

But what is good for the Big Widget Corporation's shareholders isn't necessarily good for the American taxpayers, who must pay for this special treatment. That's why we want the Big Government-Big Business marriage to end in divorce. We can break up the marriage by changing the way Congress does things.

• John Shadegg's Enumerated Powers Act would would require Congress to reference the specific clause(s) of the U.S. Constitution that grant them the power to enact the law they are considering. Because the Constitution doesn't authorize Congress to subsidize industries or grant special favors for particular businesses, Congress will have an impossible time justifying special-interest legislation. Tell Congress to pass the Enumerated Powers Act here.

• Downsize DC's One Subject at a Time Act would prevent Congress from adding unpopular or special-interest legislation into otherwise popular and much-needed bills. You can tell Congress to introduce this bill here.

• Downsize DC's Read the Bills Act (RTBA) would prevent bad provisions and special favors from sneaking into bills at the last minute. If you have not sent a message to Congress telling them to introduce the RTBA, or haven't done so in a while, you can do so here.

You can also help us by joining the Read the Bills Act coalition. Visitors to your blog or website will see our web-ad, which will take them to the RTBA campaign page where they will learn more. In turn, we will link to your site at our blog and announce your membership in a Downsizer-Dispatch. For information on joining the Coalition, click here.

This week we welcome three new members to the Coalition:

Thunder Radio's March of Liberty
Liberty's Haven
A Republic, If You Can Keep It

Finally, over the past two weeks the House passed 28 bills totaling 725 pages, while the Senate passed 29 bills totaling 286 pages. A list of these bills can be found below my signature at the home blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

One Subject, Please

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Last week, the House passed the "College Opportunity and Affordibility Act of 2007." It's a very expensive bill; according to Washington Watch, it would cost the average American family $865. A title like that makes one think the bill is about financial aid to college students. But because federal student aid is popular, ideologues and social engineers in Congress and the Dept. of Education loaded the bill with unrelated programs. The act runs to a whopping 792 pages.

The summary of the bill (H.R. 4137) at thomas.loc.gov lists 35 major provisions. About a dozen have nothing to do with student aid. They create grant programs - but not direct aid to students - pertaining to rural areas, minorities, the disabled, elementary and secondary education, campus safety, and the environment. In addition, there are about half a dozen provisions of questionable relevance to the title of the bill.

This is one way government grows. It is fun to point out gross pork-barrel spending, like "bridges to nowhere." But just as expensive are grant programs, each costing hundreds of millions, sprinkled in 800-page bills. These add to the federal government's budget commitments without addressing a way to pay for them.

The core issue - re-authorizing and refining the federal programs pertaining to student aid applications - would have made for a long and expensive bill already. Adding unrelated programs only made it longer and more confusing. It also increased the likelihood that provisions which wouldn't have passed by themselves would sail through - perhaps unnoticed and unread. Indeed, this bill passed 354-58.

Federal student aid is one subject. Improving colleges and universities is another subject. And improving K-12 education is yet another subject. We want Congress to address one subject at a time, and that's why DownsizeDC.org is proposing the One Subject At a Time Act (OSTA).

OSTA requires that each bill that comes to a vote be about one subject, and one subject only, which will be expressed in its title. It will prevent Congress from packaging unpopular legislation into a popular or much-needed bill. It will actually save time by discouraging members of Congress from proposing amendments that don't pertain to the subject of the bill. And it could save taxpayer dollars by removing costly, hidden provisions from bills.

Please tell Congress that you resent unrelated subjects in the same bill. Tell them that the unrelated programs in H.R. 4137 should have been dealt with separately. Tell them to pass the One Subject at a Time Act.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org