Comments on: Parliament Of Whores

By: Eduardo

Eduardo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:47:37 +0000

I can't believe nobody mentioned Waxman's looks.

By: GregS

GregS — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:30:54 +0000

I think you're being very generous in assuming that even Henry Waxman has read the bill.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:47:34 +0000

Oh, I agree that Murray deserves huge kudos. I'm just sayin'. This event simply makes visceral and immediate what already goes on all the time in slower motion.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:30:29 +0000

The hidden premise is not the point.

The point is, you can watch (read about it) in action.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:59:31 +0000

The hidden premise, of which I am skeptical, is that it is unusual or remarkable for our legislators to debate and even vote upon bills they have not actually read.

For bills like this, I suspect that no single human being has ever read the entire text of a single version. (Different people have read different portions — mostly the people who drafted them).

For shorter bills, I suspect that most legislators have some staffer who has skimmed most of it.

For very short bills of great political moment, a majority of legislators have probably read it. Some small portion of those might even understand it.