Sneaky Writing of Bills Has Got to Go

Look at what I found when I was collecting Obama and McCain's energy votes for you:

               Now, you guys already know that a huge part of our escalated gas prices is the deregulation and exploitation of our energy commodities market. Right? If not, check "How Much?".

              When I saw this amendment listed, I thought I'd found a good clue for some of you that harbor politicians working against American interests.

            NOT. Do you know why?

This is what I found:

H.R.2673
Title: Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Bonilla, Henry [TX-23] (introduced 7/9/2003)      Cosponsors (None)
Related Bills: H.RES.473, H.R.1950, H.R.2660, H.R.2712, H.R.2765, H.R.2799, H.R.2800, H.R.2861, 
H.R.2989, S.925, S.1356, S.1426, S.1427, S.1583, S.1584, S.1585, S.1589
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 108-199 [GPO: Text, PDF]
House Reports: 108-193; Latest Conference Report: 108-401 (in Congressional Record H12323-12746)
Note: H.R. 2673, the FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations bill covers Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-State, District of Columbia, Foreign Operations, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-Treasury, VA-HUD, and Miscellaneous Appropriations and Offsets. Text of conference report as printed in the 11/25/2003 Congressional Record, Book II (CR H12323-12746) and funding tables as printed with House debate in the 12/8/2003 Congressional Record (CR H12766-12845). The House Appropriations Committee has posted highlights of the conference report

Uh-huh. Something as important as energy market manipulation is listed under this mess.

Thus, this leads us to one big conclusion that I've found over and over.

The improper naming of bills and the putting important items under massive bills that have way too much thrown in together makes it much too difficult for us to tell what those supposedly working for us are doing.

Thus again,

If you want a solution for our solutions list:

Bills must be written in plain english and categorized properly.

No more pet laws under "farm bill"…that sort of thing.

There you go. Go forth and conquer.

Get ready for a fight on this one. They won't like it. It'll remove one of their best camo tools.

The Problem of Mass Misinformation

               I don't think I've ever seen a time where there seemed to be so much going on at one time that was important. Not in my lifetime anyway. A matter of perception? Sure, that's possible. The internet has changed all of our perceptions, for better or worse.

               What's important and why I mention it is that I've never seen a time when there was so much misinformation out there that was intentionally put there in order to fool the public. And it works to some extent.

               What's frustrating, no, what makes me angry about it is that many of these people creating false impressions at the expense of the public are paid well for it.

               The blogs, well, I think most of us know to take them with a grain of salt – to sort the information carefully. It doesn't stop there though. It's the media. It's authors. It's politicians.

               How many people out there think we can effectively run this country when many decisions that we should be making are being filtered to judges? Or when the information about issues is intentionally skewed?

                No one, I don't care how smart they are, can make decisions well without accurate information. No one. 

               How long before damage is done? Don't look now, but damage is already done.

               The question is, what can we do to stop it?

               How about re-strengthening our laws on

libel and slander?

          Maybe pass a law against skewing information vital to the public for personal gain?

               I'm pro free speech, but I am NOT pro lying at someone else's expense. Say what you will, but if your words are hurting someone, they had better be true.

 Worried,

  The Political Stray 

Pardon Me for Pointing Out the Obvious

           If we are trying to pass a law that "encourages" Congress to behave, like earmarks or becoming lobbyists after being driven out of office, paying expensive retirement while they're in jail for *****ing us -- We cannot put them in charge of it. It has to be added to one of our national votes. Yes, what a concept, us taking a little control.

Just thought I'd point that out,

 The Political Stray

Easy Ways to Help Fix America:

Remember that lying is wrong. Make our well paid reps remember the same. The media too.

 Taking other's money under false pretenses is wrong. It's called stealing.

 We are Americans. Americans are united, no matter how much others think we are not. We just bicker to pass the time.

      I know that sounds too easy but try applying it to some of what's going on around us.