Every bill that comes up for a vote in any legislature, be it state or federal, should be read aloud on the floor of said body with the full membership of that body present. Even if it means having to split the text of the bill among everyone in the chamber to read it.
Agreed. Especially in this age of video WE THE PEOPLE can listen to the readings, too, and judge for ourselves what to say to our representatives BEFORE they vote.
Not only should it be read aloud, but it should be read and defended by the sponsors ... like defending a thesis to get a degree. They read it out and take questions on each section. And, I would add that the bill must cite the clause in the Constitution that gives them the authority to enact the legislation.
Also, I agree, haven’t read it? Then the vote must be NO.
What an astonishing concept: public debate by our elected officials with respect to the full text of the bills being debated.
What’s the news headlines lately? The people need to be re-educated about legislation that has been passed.
Oh, but didn’t Empress Pelosi state: “You have to pass it to find out what’s in it.”
The 1099 issue, for example, buried deep in the ObamaCare legislation, woudn’t have been a sockdolagers jack-in-the-box suprise.
Same thing with respect to Obama’s withholding tax-cut; the fundamental tax-liability wasn’t reduced though. How many Obama-droids were happy with their April tax due this year? How the media trumpeted workers taking home more money each week. Not a peep about the tax tables not being changed. Guess what happens next year? The lowest tax bracket was raised from 10% to 15%. What do you think the deal is for those in some other bracket than the lowest tax bracket?
Oh, no! That’s NOT a 50% tax increase, that’s only 5 pennies per dollar. Look, you make 10,000 whole dollars per year, you can afford an extra $500 tax (you filthy stinkin’ rich money-grubbin’ bastiges). This is only a minor re-write of Two Penny-Jenny’s scheme. Forget the $200,000 soak-the-rich income threshold proclaimed by the media. The new definition of ‘rich’ is anybody with any income whatsoever.