Why The Gridlock?
Republicans have the presidency and both houses of Congress.
Why can't they get their most important legislation to pass?
Even though the Republicans have a majority in both the House and the Senate, they
can't seem to agree on one single bill for the purpose at hand. A few senators vote NO
on each bill.
"We must do it my way!"
"No, we have to do it my way!"
"If you get your way, I don't get mine!"
"Your way means that I don't get mine!"
"If it isn't my way, I'm voting 'NO'!"
"If you get your way, I will vote 'NO'!"
"Waaaah! The bill didn't pass!"
"Waaaah! I didn't get my way!"
"Waaaah! I also didn't get my way!"
"Waaaah! Nobody got anything!"
"Waaaah! It's his fault!"
"Waaaah! No, it's her fault!"
- Some vote NO because it doesn't have some feature they want.
- Others vote NO because it contains something they do not want.
- Still others vote NO because the bill is not everything they want.
So, no matter what the bill contains, it doesn't get enough votes to pass.
Q: What's wrong?
A: They tried to cram too much into a bill.
The Constitution requires that each individual law, feature, or provision must be in a
separate bill.
Q: What does this mean?
A: There must be many small bills, rather than a few large bills.
Each bill should be limited to containing no more than 1000 words.
Q: What does this mean for bills for new laws?
A: Each individual new law must have its own bill.
Combining multiple laws into one bill is a way for the bill writer to cheat:
- Reducing the probability of passage by including unpopular proposed laws
- Requiring two proposed laws to either pass together or be voted down together
- Unfairly requires removing a proposed law to require a YES vote in both houses
Q: What does this mean for bills for repealing laws?
A: Each individual repeal must have its own bill.
Combining multiple repeals or laws and repeals into one bill is a way for the bill
writer to cheat:
- Reducing the probability of passage by including unpopular proposed repeals
- Requiring two proposed repeals or laws and repeals to either pass together or be
voted down together.
- Unfairly requires removing a proposed repeal to require a YES vote in both houses.
Q: What does this mean for the budget?
A: Each individual spending item must have its own bill.
Combining multiple laws into one omnibus spending bill is a way for the bill writer to
cheat:
- Reducing the probability of passage by including unpopular budget items
- Requiring two budget items to either pass together or be voted down together
- Unfairly requires removing a proposed budget item to require a YES vote in both
houses
Q: What does this mean for taxes?
A: Each individual tax, credit, exemption, and deduction must have its own
bill.
Combining multiple taxes into one bill is a way for the bill writer to cheat:
- Reducing the probability of passage by including unpopular proposed taxes
- Requiring two proposed taxes to either pass together or be voted down together
- Unfairly requires removing a proposed tax to require a YES vote in both houses
Q: What does this mean for definitions?
A: A special definitions dictionary must be kept that is used by all
laws.
Using special definitions for words included on bills and laws is a way for the bill
writer to cheat:
- All words in the definitions dictionary that are used in laws must use the dictionary
definition.
- Any time the public usage of a word found in a law changes, the old definition must
be entered into the dictionary.
Q: What does this mean overall?
A: DON'T CRAM THE BILL FULL OF STUFF!