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Thread: Delaying tactics

  1. #1
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    Delaying tactics

    Ron Johnson plans to have the clerks of the Senate read the entire COVID relief bill aloud, which will take about 10 hours. He further plans to demand that each amendment offered be read aloud during the vote-a-rama, which could take another day or so.

    In the end, the bill will become law. Performative politics did not leave with Trump. There is still an appetite for it.

    Meanwhile, people are lining up for food give-aways. Unemployment insurance is running out and people will go without. All so Johnson can look good to his base. It is tough to watch that sort of self-absorption and pandering. And what gets me is that his base includes people being hurt by his antics and they will STILL vote for him!

    It is a funny old world.

  2. #2
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    Maybe the critters should know what they are voting on?
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  3. #3
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    NAH , They have to pass it so we can find out what''s in it. Doncha know.
    Individual rights are protected only as long as they don't conflict with the desires of the state .

  4. #4
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    The rules state that only one senator has to be on the floor. He was the only Senator on the floor for the reading. No Senator is being educated by this stunt.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Independent Voter View Post
    NAH , They have to pass it so we can find out what''s in it. Doncha know.

    Sorta like the 2017 tax bill, which only had Johnson's handwritten notes to go on before being passed by Republicans? That 400 page bill that Democrats had two hours to read before a final vote was scheduled? Is that what you are referring to?

    You think Republicans knew what was in that bill? Doubtful. Here is a link with a picture of the type of baloney the Republicans pulled with that legislation. They kinda lost the ability to gripe about passing legislation that they didn't understand with that one.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-...-trump-2017-12

  6. #6
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    'They LOAD every bill with PORK. Both sides. I remember a couple of Presidents trying to get stand alone bills OR a line item veto but neither could pass. And that was both Dem and Rep, Presidents.

    So now we get garbage shoved down the throat of the tax payer on a regular basis.
    Individual rights are protected only as long as they don't conflict with the desires of the state .

  7. #7
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    One man's pork is another man's much-needed project. If it is coming to my district, it is needed. If it is going to someone else's, it is pork. You might say that pork is in the eye of the beholder. Or at least, the receiver.

    Either way, thus it has always been in politics. In order to get what I want, I have to give you what you want. You give me my much needed project, I give you your pork. It's all a matter of perspective.

  8. #8
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    I have no sympathy for the lawmakers being required to do their jobs. I think every damn one of them should have to read every damn word they put on the books.

    I am sympathetic if you are so dependent on government that you can’t survive unless they shortcut their responsibilities. That’s a shame.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  9. #9
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    If you are referring to me being that dependent, that is incorrect.

    Have you read one of these gigantic bills? Reading it aloud is useless. Most of it is legal jargon amending amending existing law, with references to inserting language here, striking language there, etc. Unless you had someone thumbing through the Federal Code to look up every reference, you couldn't make head nor tail of it. I read the entire ACA and while I found some areas that I recognized, most of it was fractional gobbledygook of interest only to lawyers.

    I'll disagree that legislators need to have read for themselves every word in a bill under consideration. They are there to represent their constituents, not be lawyers schooled in the nuance of every topic they address. That's why they hire staff. Same reason I hire a plumber. Can't be an expert on everything.

  10. #10
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    I was not referring to you. I don’t know your relationship with government.

    And maybe if our legislators were actually compelled to understand what they pass, they wouldn’t pass so much bullroar.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  11. #11
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    So, in sum:

    1) No Senator is being educated by this stunt. They've left the floor.
    2) No constituent is being educated by this stunt. No one is going to listen to 10 hours of legalese and pull anything worth while out of the experience.
    3) Johnson also wants to have every amendment read aloud. He expects hundreds of proposed amendments. To do this, he would need to get Senators to come in shifts.
    4) Republican Senators are baffled by his antics, preferring to highlight specific proposals in the bill that are considered unacceptable. This would have the effect of actually focusing debate, a highly educational process for both Senators and anyone watching.

    About the only thing being accomplished is that Johnson is making a scene, and since he is up for re-election, it seems likely to be his intent. After all, he didn't insist on anything remotely similar to this when he reported the 400 page 2017 tax bill out of his committee, with a vote so fast that Senators couldn't even be given a proper draft and instead, relied on Johnson's handwritten notes on the bill.

    Oh, yeah, he's all about good government.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by CactusCurt View Post
    I was not referring to you. I don’t know your relationship with government.

    And maybe if our legislators were actually compelled to understand what they pass, they wouldn’t pass so much bullroar.

    Who is to say they don't? Just because a bill is read aloud to an empty room doesn't mean anyone is learning anything.

    When I bought my house, I hired a lawyer to read through the legal jargon and advise me. I didn't stop everything to go become a lawyer myself.

  13. #13
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    There are some who want to tap the brakes. But what does that have to do with you getting your way.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  14. #14
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    I feel sorry for the Clerks......

  15. #15
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    I am sick of all of it.

    I don't think the Founding Fathers envisioned career politicians who cared about nothing except themselves and the next election. If they had, they would have built term limits into the Constitution. That is something we need and will never get.

    Also, bills should not be amended by attaching other bills. All bills should stand on their own. Of course, that will never happen, either.

    Did I say I'm sick of this crap?

    Time to look into Belize again. At least there I know I'm worthless when it comes to government hearing my wishes.
    The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible - Arthur C. Clarke

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