The political game in my simple-minded brain is one where there are only a few winners and the rest of us. It is mostly because politicians are self-serving wind bags. Let’s say that Bob has a bill. It is a good bill. But for Bob to get any support for his bill, he needs the help of Tom and Randy. Since the bill is good you would think Tom and Randy would support it, no strings attached. You would be wrong. Tom and Randy want to be able to tell their constituents’ that they are fighting for them, so they insist on adding to the already good bill with extras that have nothing to do with the bill in the first place. Then Bob finds he needs more support, so goes to Sue and Tina for help. You already see where this is heading. Welcome to the world of pork. A simple 10-page bill, that could do some good, turns into hundreds of pages that get fought over, amended, added to, and eventually dead somewhere. We see it all the time. Just recently this year’s Rona stimulus package and in 2012 with Superstorm Sandy Relief bills have been wrought with attempts to add millions of dollars’ worth of pork that has nothing to do with initial intent of the bill. There were instances in the Sandy Relief Bill that included funding for many things that were not affected by the storm at all. What exactly are the lawmakers doing when they are fighting over these pork additions? You probably already guessed correctly, wasting time we the taxpayer are paying for.
It is not just the pork that is a problem. The legal jargon or legalese, that fills these pages are borderline offensive. For a government that is for the people by the people they sure do not write in a way that it is of the people. Now I admit this blog is filled with many a grammatical error that would make an English teacher cry, but it is readable. When you read a bill, you need a translator to help you understand what is trying to be said. I do anyway. Steinbeck for instance wrote wonderful books in such a way that anyone could enjoy them. I am not suggesting the authors of legislation should be as well versed as Steinbeck. But they should be able to write in way that any 8th grader would be able to comprehend.
I contend that bills only include subject matter that relates to the initial topic of the bill. They should also be limited in size, 20-30 pages, although I would prefer less than 10. Brevity is your friend. They should use simple yet strong terms. We do not want a bunch bills that can easily be circumvented. We need legislation written so every man and women could read and take advantage of their meaning. As it is now, only people who are fluent in legalese can use the law for their advantage, and they work for the wealthy, while the rest of us are left behind.
I could go deeper in this episode and discuss pork as it concerns the size of the government, but brevity is my friend, and I will want to discuss it at some later point. So, we will end it here. Short, sweet, and to the point. Stay feisty my friends and let Jimmy V’s words be your guide.