Posted by
Ed Lilly on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 6:32:43 AM
A friend emailed me to ask my thoughts on the idea of requiring congresscritters to read the bills on which they vote. My early morning musings on same:
The boston.com link didn't work for some reason, but I take it you're referring to Jeff Jacoby's editorial, which I found and skimmed through.
First, it's sad that we're at the point where it has to be proposed to make a law to require elected officials to do their job. On that basis alone, I have a bit of a problem - if a rep is not doing his or her job, the voters should kick them out next chance they get. A pledge shouldn't be needed.
Second, if I were serious about efforts like the one Jacoby is writing about, I wouldn't make it a pledge because those are worthless. These are politicians we're talking about - to paraphrase one of them and apply her words more appropriately, they lie to us all the time. How many of the clowns who signed "pledges" to term limit themselves are still in DC?
So rather than a pledge, I'd try to do something like get a member of congress to add an amendment to every single bill that comes up for a vote that says that by voting for the bill, a member of congress affirms under penalty of perjury that he or she has read it and understands it. Ideally, I'd also like to put something in there that says they can point to the specific text of the Constitution that supports the power / authority that is the subject of the legislation and make them do it, and provide that if they are subject to immediate removal from Congress and a lifetime ban on holding public office, voting for public office, and being involved in any way with the fundraising for or election of any public officeholder if they are found to have violated the "read, understand, Constitutional authority" provisions.
Of course, that's completely unworkable in the real world, but if something can be done that would completely tie Congress and the legislative branch in knots so that they can't do further damage to the country, I'm more than happy to see that happen. As I've commented in many online discussions I've had with people over the past couple of years, I'm at the point of wanting to see every single federally elected official voted out of office every election cycle, forever, and having every single one of them be subject to IRS audits, forever. But that's just me.