NOT ONLY 'READ THE BILLS", BUT INITIAL EACH PARAGRAPH

IT SHOULD BE MANDATORY THAT EVERY REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR, STATE OR FEDERAL LEVEL, INITIAL AND DATE EACH PARAGRAPH AFTER READING THEM IN ANY BILL THAT HE OR SHE VOTES ON. THOSE COPIES ARE TO BE KEPT IN STORAGE SO THAT ANY CITIZEN CAN EXAMINE AND QUIZ THAT ELECTED OFFICIAL.

AIDES ARE NOT TO INTERPRET A BILL OR READ IT FOR THE ELECTED OFFICIAL OR INITIAL THE DOCUMENT.

What do you think?

Rep. John Boehner on Read the Bill Act

http://republicanleader.house.gov/news/email/show.aspx?ID=BS2T6LJUXLAE4EY5C33C65VMM4

Dems still don't want to read the bill...

‘DON’T READ THE BILL:’ INSIDE DEMOCRATS’ OPPOSITION TO TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY DEMOCRATIC LEADERS DEFEND STATUS QUO DESPITE WIDESPREAD PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR “READ THE BILL” REFORM

October 6, 2009 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) | Permalink “Read the bill” reform has gained the support of an overwhelming majority of Americans, widely respected government watchdogs, and even some rank-and-file Democrats. Yet, Democratic leaders continue to protect the status quo, refusing to allow a vote on a resolution requiring a 72-hour review period for all legislation. Only 36 more signatures on a discharge petition filed by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) are needed to force an up-or-down vote on “read the bill” reform. The various rationales Democrats have provided to justify their opposition to common-sense transparency and accountability reveal just how out-of-touch this majority has become. THREE REASONS DEMOCRATS OPPOSE “READ THE BILL” REFORM: 1. ‘We don’t do things that way.’ Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), addressing attempts by Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee to ensure lawmakers and the public have 72 hours to review health care legislation: “We have never, ever, ever, ever done that in this committee.” (Politico, 9/24/09) 2. ‘Saying we can’t change the bill at the last minute means we can’t, you know, actually change the bill at the last minute.’ “What if only one short word or amendment is made?” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) asked last week. “It's one thing initially for a bill to have a long time, but if you come out of a conference and they don’t change anything then, you don’t need 72 hours.” (The Hill, 10/2/09) 3. ‘Nobody actually reads the bills.’ This rates as the most common reason. For instance, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said last month during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, “I mean, let's be honest about it. The legislative language, everybody knows, is relatively arcane, legalistic, and most people don’t read the legislative language.” Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) recently added: “I don’t expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I’ve ever read in my life. … It’s just anyone who says that they can do that and actually get much out of it is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.” (Politico, 9/23/09; New York Post, 10/4/09) THREE REASONS AMERICANS SUPPORT “READ THE BILL” REFORM: 1. “Stimulus bill a sorry spectacle. What a joke. Your Congress has voted to spend almost $790 billion of your money on a stimulus package that not a single member of either chamber has read. The 1,073-page document wasn't posted on the government’s website until after 10 p.m. the day before the vote to pass it was taken.” (Jack Cafferty, CNN.com, 2/17/09) 2. “Energy bill a travesty containing who knows what. The cap-and-trade bill passed the House of Representatives shrouded in a fog of willful ignorance and calculated irrationality. No one could be sure what he was voting for -- not after a 300-page amendment added at 3:09 a.m. the day of its passage. The bill is so complex and jerry-built that even its supporters can’t know how, or if, it will work. And it’s impossible for someone to know whether the motivating crisis, impending planetary doom, will ever materialize.” (Rich Lowry, Salt Lake Tribune, 6/30/09) 3. Organizational Chart of the House Democrats’ Health Plan, which depicts the bureaucratic nightmare that is the House Democrats’ costly government-run health care proposal. The chart was produced by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC).

REPUBLICAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) H-204, THE CAPITOL (202) 225-4000 | GOPLEADER.GOV

SENATORS CAN'T UNDERSTAND OBAMACARE BILL AND AREN'T READING IT!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GARBAGE?

IF YOU VOTE FOR ANY ONE OF THE INCUMBENTS WHO HAVEN'T READ AND CAN'T UNDERSTAND THIS BILL,

YOU WILL DESERVE WHAT YOU GET.

Study Obamacare before the meetings...here it is

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Never believe anything you hear. Always do your own research. Be tireless, motivated and be prepared to discuss your subject until it lies dead on the floor and never give in.

OK - now you can go eat lunch. Lesson is over.

So now, YOU READ THE BILL!

Watch Arlen Specter blink...

John Conyers and the video of "Why should I read the bill?"

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=51610&print=on

John Conyers and his inflammatory "Why read the bill" statement

http://www.redstate.com/steven_willis/2009/07/27/conyers-why-read-the-bill/

Truly unbelievable. If there is smoke regarding the "Read the Bill Act", here is the gasoline to make it burst into flame.

Either Conyers is senile or he really means it and it's probably a bit of both.

No person in Congress should be allowed to continue in his or her elected position if this is the attitude. They are legislating blindly. They have broken their oaths.

They need to be removed. This is sedition.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Quote of the Day: "He who has the gold, rules." - The Golden Rule of Politics

Subject: Where did they get the idea that Congress should Read the Bills?

Only three Republicans supported the scam-stimulus bill. Even though the rest of the GOP opposed it. And yet, to paraphrase Shakespeare's Marc Antony, "I come not to praise these Republicans, but to bury them."

Many DC Downsizers contacted me last week with the news that everyone, everywhere, seemed to be discussing the failure of Congress to read the scam-stimulus bill. The Republicans made it their main talking point . . .

* The Heritage Foundation did it.

* The Dayton Daily News mentioned it.

* Governor Mike Huckabee on FoxNews thieved a line I've used in a thousand interviews -- "They couldn't have read this bill if they were using their Evelyn Woods speed-reading training."

* Even a Democrat, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, told CNSNews that his colleagues wouldn't have time to read it, and a conservative news group turned that into a story.

* And Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the head of the conservative House Republican Study Committee (RSC), put out a YouTube video that I encourage you to watch.

But ask yourself this: "Why were Representative Price and his pals using "Read the Bills" as a talking point?" You can bet that . . .

* Some Republican spin doctor, like Frank Luntz, tested the idea, AND IT WORKS!
* It beat out several other ideas that didn't work as well
* The Republicans think they can use this idea without ever having to DO ANYTHING about it

Think about what this means . . .

* We can now have even more confidence that the "Read the Bills" idea is a winner, because we can be fairly sure the Republicans have TESTED IT with focus groups
* We can also be fairly sure the Republicans will use it again
* Every time they use it they'll be unwittingly advertising DownsizeDC.org's "Read the Bills Act"
* This will make the direct mail we're about to do MORE EFFECTIVE!

Do the Republicans really want to read their bills? Of course not. If they did they'd just go ahead and introduce our bill. But what they're overlooking is how their cynical use of the "read the bills" concept will help us to GROW, and speed the day when they will HAVE TO pass OUR "Read the Bills Act!"

We've come a long way in a short time. We've now made one of our proposals a part of the national political debate. And I know exactly how it happened . . .

* First, YOU bombarded Congress with nearly 150,000 messages about this issue, forcing more than FORTY Congressional offices to write form letters in response to your pressure.

* Second, a top Republican strategist has given me the chance, twice, to pitch the "Read the Bills Act" to more than a hundred conservative movement leaders, including a member of Tom Price's staff. And that same strategist mentioned our idea in his latest book.

That's where the Republicans got the idea. We should be glad about this, but also angry that the politicians would steal the rhetoric without buying the principle.

It's up to us to make the politicians regret that they're giving our idea all this free advertising. If the Republicans want to play with our fire, then we should burn them with it. The Republicans may think they're winning a rhetorical victory, but we think they're making a strategic mistake that will play into our hands.

People are hearing about the "read the bills" idea -- now they need to hear about YOUR "Read the Bills Act."

Our operating budget is covered, so any money you give today will go to mail letters to people telling them about the "Read the Bills Act," and recruiting them to join DownsizeDC.org. EXPLOIT what the Republicans are doing, and punish them for their merely rhetorical use of our idea. Please, make a donation now.

Every dollar will help build the army. Any size contribution works.

But we could really use some $1,000 and $2,000 warriors, and a $10,000 or more superhero. If you want to make that kind of donation, but want to talk to me about it first, just hit reply and let me know.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer,

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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Downsizer Dispatch - quote and the READ THE BILL ACT

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Quotes of the Day:

"I would ask the Democratic leadership to guarantee that such a bill will not be brought to the floor of the House unless there have been public hearings in the appropriate committees, the entire text has been available online for the American people to review for at least one week, and it includes no special-interest earmarks." -- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

"I think the notion of a stimulus package online for a week before its voted on is just delightful. I mean, these bills are normally written in the dead of night with all kinds of things getting in them. ... Any big bill, I mean nobody usually knows what's in it at all when they're voting on it. That would be real change." -- Cokie Roberts, "This Week" roundtable on ABC, January 4, 2009 (-8:35 mark)

Subject: What Cokie Said

Two weeks ago Congressional Democrats wanted to pass an "economic stimulus" bill in time for President Obama to sign it on his first day in office. But now that the stimulus proposals are being criticized from all sides, Democrats are hoping to get something passed by the mid-February recess.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders are insisting on hearings and a real debate about the bill. They're also demanding that the bill be posted on-line for seven days before the vote.

Where did they get that idea?

They got it from you. From your many messages to Congress about the Read the Bills Act.

The fact that the Republicans are borrowing from our playbook is a sign that the Read the Bills Act (RTBA) is on their minds. Please recognize that this is because of your work. What you do matters. It makes a difference.

Please also notice that our proposals can draw a positive response from the media. They know how Washington works, and doesn't work, and they can see how our ideas could fix some of the things that don't work.

As Cokie Roberts said, many big bills are "written in the dead of night with all kinds of things getting in them," and "nobody knows what's in it at all when they're voting on it."

Last fall's Big Bailout was like that. This "stimulus" bill, which will add a trillion dollars to the national debt, could be an even bigger rip-off.

So it's not unreasonable to insist that the public knows where the money will go before the bill is passed. But instead of creating special rules for the stimulus bill, Congress should go one step better . . .

They should pass the Read the Bills Act before they consider the stimulus bill.

Please tell your Representative and your two Senators to introduce and pass the Read the Bills Act NOW. In your comments, tell them what Cokie said. Tell them they will have failed to represent you if they do not read every word of the stimulus bill before voting on it, and post it on the Internet for 7 days before the vote, so citizens and the media can read it too. You can use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful system to send your message.

Also, please consider adding your blog or website to the Read the Bills Act Coalition. Membership can bring you increased traffic and increased awareness of the RTBA. For details on joining, go here.

Over the past month we welcomed five new members to the Coalition:

The "Kick Them All Out" Project

Lionheart.net

Blogsunnyside

Discerning Citizen

Live Free Or Die - Rochester

Thank-you for being part of the growing Downsize DC army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

P.S. Newcomers to the Dispatch may jump to the conclusion that Downsize DC is anti-Obama and pro-GOP. This isn't true. Throughout the Bush years, we called on Democrats to be a real opposition party and oppose Bush's wars, attacks on civil liberties, and big-spending ways. We called on them to fix Congress and restrain the government. That we now call on Republicans to oppose Obama's "Upsize DC" agenda is not partisanship, it's consistency.

P.P.S. Not all new office holders have Internet contact pages yet. We're updating our system as the new contact pages come on line. Your message will go through to any of your representatives that remain the same, or for which we've received new information. Don't let this transition slow you down. Your message will get through to someone. It will make a difference. Take action!

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Ron Paul's opinion on the Senate bailout -

Did you hear about the wooden arrows for childrens' toys? It's filled with pork! And it's hard to believe any of those Congressional scalawags and snakes even READ the bill!!! 450 pages! That's a lot of doublespeak to read.

(Did you know there's a "Read the Bill Act" circulating through Congress?)

This is nothing new. What would be wondrously NEW, is if those responsible were held accountable, stripped of assets and put in jail for a long time. And if and when they get out, never to be able to work at anything that consists of handling money...not even as a Wal-Mart checker.

Here's the video. We can survive this, but not if Congress passes this horrendous piece of legislation.