The country curmudgeon: A rattling good idea
By Roy Hicks
Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:17 AM PDT
With the rush to new legislation proposed by the Obama administration — trying to cram through new bills before the public understands what he’s up to — Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson is proposing a measure mandating 72 hours to publish any new bill on the Internet before it can be voted on. This is a rattling good idea because it would afford our citizens at least a chance to review congressional mischief.
The public is getting sick to death of new bills being crammed into law before anyone understands what’s happening: the gazillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street, government takeover of the automotive industry and now the proposed government takeover of our national health-care system.
The average Joe is getting increasingly nervous about Obama, and so is the general electorate. They’re further becoming disgusted with 1,000-page bills no congressman can possibly read before voting and the countless pork-barrel amendments attached thereto.
Local radio talk-show host Nate Shelman recently had another good idea: On any new bill being proposed before Congress, at least one hour should be allowed for public discussion and debate for every page. Thus the monstrous 1,000-page “health-care proposal” should be allowed at least 1,000 hours (42 days, not counting weekends and holidays) for citizens’ review and response to their representatives before Congress can take any action whatsoever.
I’d proposed an even better idea before. Congress should never be allowed to pass a new law without repealing at least 10 laws already on the books. Further, no new bill should ever exceed 10 pages — not the 900- to 1,000-page monstrosities like the recent “Cap and Trade” bill no congressman could possibly have read but into which all kinds of mischief can be surreptitiously inserted.
The real problem for the average citizen is he or she does not have the time to do such research. We tend to trust our elected representatives to do this for us. That’s their job and their only job.
In Idaho, we are fortunate to have four solid representatives who do exactly that. We threw one Democrat rascal — Larry LaRocco — out of office in 1994 because he was not representing our First District interests, and we’ve kept him locked out of office ever since.
New Congressman Walt Minnick — the first Democrat elected since 1992 — has demonstrated an encouraging loyalty to the conservative district he now represents, and rightly so.
The vast majority of Americans have indicated an ever-increasing distrust of government — especially this one — trying to sneak through measures contrary to our welfare in the dead of night.
Roy Hicks, a Payette resident, writes a weekly column for the Argus Observer. Comments or questions for Mr. Hicks can be directed to: Roy Hicks, Argus Observer Newsroom; 1160 S.W. Fourth St., Ontario, OR 97914. The views and opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Argus Observer
payette wrote on Oct 2, 2009 11:42 PM:
My problem is that "W" lied to the American people and therefore the world about his reasons for invading Iraq. I may be a liberal wacko, but I would have actually supported a "Let's go kill Saddam because its about time!!!!" platform. Why did Bush have to use the terrorist plot scenario? No one believes, I hope that the terrorists who hijacked the planes on 9/11 came from Iraq. All the evidence has always pointed to Bin Laden in Afghanistan.
I honor those who have served and those still in service. My brother, father and grandfathers served. Soldiers should never be blamed for their superiors' mistakes.
The US military is the the greatest fighting force in history, but it's a shame our leaders can't make up their minds to let them (you included) do their jobs to their fullest capacity.
Please don't put words in my mouth that I never wrote. "