Monday, June 29, 2009

Reading a Problem in Washington



I happened to glance at one of the books left out of the toy box when my grandchildren were over last, The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read. It’s a cleaver short story about a man too lazy to learn to read. His wife sent him to the store and picked up items; believing they were one thing, only to find, upon opening these items later, he’d purchased something entirely different. If only he’d been able to read…

My granddaughter enjoyed having the book read to her, the simple pictures along with my expressions of pending disaster each time the little old man picked up an item and placed it in his shopping cart made for a great time, perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes together. It will be even more fun when she gets a little older and learns to read on her own, all those words will make the world come alive and all she’ll need to do is turn the pages.

This is only an observation on my part; but wouldn’t it be simply splendid if the folks elected to govern this great country took the time to read the pieces of legislation which shape our society? They might start at the first page, read what’s been proposed, turn pages one by one until the entire bill has had a chance to be understood.

Ah, that might be problematic since the important pieces of legislation have become burdensome to read, hundreds of pages; on the really important bills over a thousand pages. It would seem as if the folks writing the laws of the land intentionally made them difficult for anyone to understand or get through; why would they do that?

The folks we elect to congress, who take an oath to uphold the Constitution, have an important responsibility to those who elected them. Remember that part in our founding documents:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

What good are these representatives if they don’t bother to read the bills put before them; after all, that’s what they promised to do? If they willfully disregard their duties on important matters which will affect an entire nation; what recourse, other than waiting for the next electoral process to vote them out of office, what recourse is left other than to implement the rest of the paragraph previously mentioned?

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Wouldn’t most responsible folks agree that voting for a piece of legislation without having read it is reckless at best and perhaps even criminal, to the point of falling into the impeachable offence, “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Voting for a bill which clearly violates the Constitution is a crime against everyone, isn’t it?

I’m not advocating the abolishment of our form of government; our form of government, if applied in the manner our Founding Fathers had intended works just fine. No, the problem isn’t with the form of government; but with those who have decided they have a “better way”, a means of bypassing the safe guards of the Constitution in order to form “their more perfect union”. Pardon me while I spit in the sink; something got stuck in my throat.

Imagine signing a huge piece of legislation, say for example Cap and Trade , one of those thousand plus pages of legislation which hasn’t been read by most of the folks who want it passed. The EPA said it was critical to our moving forward as a nation.

“Cap and trade is an environmental policy tool that delivers results with a mandatory cap on emissions while providing sources flexibility in how they comply. Successful cap and trade programs reward innovation, efficiency, and early action and provide strict environmental accountability without inhibiting economic growth.” (emphasis added)

If that information is correct, and I seriously doubt it; then why would those holding the majority in congress throw out options to eliminate this overly burdensome legislation in the event it becomes evident that such Cap and Trade mandates are inhibiting economic growth ?

“Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.” (emphasis added)

If you add to this, "the inconvenient truths" which may or may not have intentionally been left out of the EPA’s “crisis” determination; the proposed legislation has absolutely no legs to stand on and would appear to be politically motivated rather than based on actual scientific data. (I should beg forgiveness; those in government would never ever tell a lie in order to fool the public.)

I could go on and on; but the simplicity of the children’s book did a better job. When, after the ink has dried on the paper, it becomes evident that we could have avoided serious mistakes which will alter the landscape of industry and production here in America; wouldn’t it have been so much better to have read the document first?

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