... or, a political commentary based on the cliche of too many cooks in the kitchen ...
I have a strong suspicion bordering on certainty that 2/3 of all bills submitted to Congress are - whatever their intellectual merits, totally irrelevant to the future well-being of the country and would not be missed in the slightest if they died a quiet death in committee.
Why so many useless bills get generated I don't know for sure. I can speculate that its due in part to a 'publish or perish' pressure not unlike that found in academia, but there must certainly be more to it. Maybe its just representatives trying to represent too many, too-specific interests; or maybe these are pieced together by lobbyists.
Whatever the underlying reason for the avalanche of crap bills, there is a good side to the situation. The slow-down, hold-up, blockade, filibuster, or whatever you want to call it the Republicans are doing to gridlock Congress isn't harming us at all by keeping most bills from a vote.
The downside, however, is that the 1/3 of all bills that are important - maybe even essential, to the well-being of our society get blocked up too. I wonder if the Republican gridlock would be so successful if every bill submitted were as important as that 33 percent.
So, to all you Congressional 'cooks' out there, please most of you, stay out of the kitchen. Write less, read and listen more, and make every roll call and vote. Support what's important, don't waste time on the rest.
I have a strong suspicion bordering on certainty that 2/3 of all bills submitted to Congress are - whatever their intellectual merits, totally irrelevant to the future well-being of the country and would not be missed in the slightest if they died a quiet death in committee.
Why so many useless bills get generated I don't know for sure. I can speculate that its due in part to a 'publish or perish' pressure not unlike that found in academia, but there must certainly be more to it. Maybe its just representatives trying to represent too many, too-specific interests; or maybe these are pieced together by lobbyists.
Whatever the underlying reason for the avalanche of crap bills, there is a good side to the situation. The slow-down, hold-up, blockade, filibuster, or whatever you want to call it the Republicans are doing to gridlock Congress isn't harming us at all by keeping most bills from a vote.
The downside, however, is that the 1/3 of all bills that are important - maybe even essential, to the well-being of our society get blocked up too. I wonder if the Republican gridlock would be so successful if every bill submitted were as important as that 33 percent.
So, to all you Congressional 'cooks' out there, please most of you, stay out of the kitchen. Write less, read and listen more, and make every roll call and vote. Support what's important, don't waste time on the rest.
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