(Kid) "Whew! You sure gotta' climb a lotta' steps to get to this Capitol building here in Washinton! Well, I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?"
I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I'm sittin' here on Capitol Hill
Well it's a long, long journey to the capitol city. It's a long, long wait while I'm sittin' in committee - but I know I'll be a law someday, at least I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill.
(Kid) "Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage."
(Bill) "Well, I got this far. When I started I wasn't even a bill, I was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local congressman and he said, 'You're right, there ought to be a law.' Then he sat down, wrote me out, and introduced me to Congress, and I became a bill - and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law."
I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I got as far as Capitol Hill. Well now, I'm stuck in committee, and I'll sit here and wait, while a few key congressmen discuss and debate whether they should let me be a law.
How I hope and pray that they will, but today I am still just a bill.
(Kid) "Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?"
(Bill) "Yeah, I one of the lucky ones. Most bills never get this far. I hope they decide to report favorably, otherwise I may die."
(Kid) "Die?"
(Bill) "Yeah, die in committee. Ooh, but it looks like I'm gonna' live. Now I go to the House of Represenatives and they vote on me."
(Kid) "If they vote 'Yes,' what happens?"
(Bill) "Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again."
(Kid) "Oh, no."
(Bill) "Oh, yes!"
I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and if they vote for me on Capitol Hill, well, then I'm off to the White House, where I'll wait in a line with a lot of other bills for the President to sign, and if he signs me then I'll be a law How I hope and pray that he will, but today I am still just a bill.
(Kid) "You mean, even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the President can still say no?"
(Bill) "Yes. That's called a 'veto.' If the President vetoes me, I'll have to go back to Congress and they vote on me again, and by that time you're so old, you...
(Kid) "By that time it's very unlikely that you'll become a law. It's not easy to become a law, is it?"
(Bill) "No..."
But how I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill.
(Congressman) "He signed you, Bill. Now you're a law."
(Bill) "Oh yes!"
Sadly, this is how many of us of a certain age learned civics (and math, and science for that matter). I still can't recite the "Preamble to the Constitution" without singing it! :-)
And, hopefully, UltraDude can take it to heart and learn more about how things work. Perhaps we can even be a little more relaxed about things until we know exactly what we're dealing with.