How Congress Works

Most of us have seen this “Schoolhouse Rock” explanation of how a bill becomes a law. Do you remember?







Well, chalk this up to another spate of misinformation. Note that we distinguish disinformation from misinformation as follows: the former projects intentionally false information designed to mislead others—such as any statement made by a politician, while the latter is unintentionally false—such as any statement made by a blockhead. The people who put this video together misinform because they are only presenting the theory of legislative action, not what actually goes on in den of thieves, liars, and tax-cheats we collectively refer to as Congress.



Dr. Thomas Sowell does a much better job helping us to understand how the lawmaking system works in the American congress. For example, “The big story last week was the incredible Congressional rush to pass a bill that was more than a thousand pages long in just two days—after which it sat on the President's desk for three days while the Obamas were away on a holiday. There is the same complete inconsistency in the bill itself. Despite the urgency in President Obama's rhetoric, as well as in Congress' haste in passing a bill which few—if any—members had time to read, much less consider, most of the actual spending will take place next year, at the earliest. Not even the most Alice-in-Wonderland actions will arouse the suspicions of those who have what William James once called "the will to believe.”



By “Alice in Wonderland” actions, I suppose Dr. Sowell suggests that Congress is not acting as it should in the context of its constitutional responsibility; in the practical sense, this means the unrestrained spending other people’s money. If we could install listening devices in the House and Senate (exempting of course the office of the DC Madam—we can only take so much “real politics”), it would be relatively easy to begin a campaign designed to defeat the incumbents, which is one of Mr. Mustang’s more lucid ideas.



So organized sans television camera lighting, our new campaign might record conversations juicer than these:



“And let me say this to all the chattering class, that so much focuses on all those tiny little, yes porky amendments . . . the American people really don’t care.”— Charles Schumer, (D-NY)


After emerging from a tax writing committee meeting, asked whether he intends to remain in charge of the House Ways and Means committee in light of his recently discovered attempt to cheat on his income taxes, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) said smiling, “"I am unable to say anything. Do to me what you want, I'm not talking."



And while we’re discussing how the congress works, should we not be just a little concerned that the federal government oversteps its bounds when House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a co-author of the stimulus bill, allowed state legislatures to overrule governors on whether to accept stimulus money? Is this not a federal incursion in the sovereignty of states in contravention of the Tenth Amendment?



Two issues present themselves for our consideration. The first is really a no-brainer. We elected representatives in the House and Senate to legislate. They cannot do that if they refuse to read, consider, discuss, and debate laws that commit the American people to extraordinary debt. The second issue is one affecting every single American: Can we really trust these people to look after our interests, rather than their own? If the answer to this is a resounding “no,” then we need to toss these bums out on the street.



Cross-posted at: Social Sense