Uncle Bud's heartburn ...
-Frank A. Clark-
Happy
New Year to each and every one out there in
cyber land. Without further prelude, I’m going
to launch right into my current Heartburn
subject for this report as it has been bubbling
around in my craw for quite some time now. The past two months of endless arguments and rhetoric out of both houses of our legislature over the issue extending the payroll tax break brought to light just how easy it is/was for our elected officials in both houses to cloud the basic issue by throwing in additional line items to the basic bill.
At any time during the recent debate, which went nowhere, did you have the feeling the basic issue was clear? I sure didn’t … particularly when the Keystone Pipe line business was thrown into the debate.
Therein is my heartburn subject for this report.
Why not just debate one bill and one item? Ha! Because there lies the “toys” our elected officials use to leverage their peers in the effort to pass or defeat a bill. When in the past I’ve questioned multiple line items in a bill I’m told I don’t understand the system. Granted, I don’t. What I do know however, is that I’m not alone as we witness the twisting and “creative” rhetoric thrown into the debate.
During my long military and subsequent corporate careers I picked up a lot of acronyms along the way.
Out of the many thrown at me one did serve me well then and still does today. “KISS”… Keep-it-simple-stupid.
Do away with multiple line item bills. Debate only one item at a time sans pork, like a rider awarding a grant for Aunt Bertha’s quilting society just to “buy," yes buy, Aunt Bertha’s congressman’s vote in order to pass a favored bill. (Let’s call a spade a spade. Adding riders/line items to a basic bill is buying votes.)
At first blush I thought that granting the president line item veto authority would help clean up some of the pork, but it dawned on this pea brain there is no way our legislature is going to hand this president any more power than he already has.
The answer is simple, boys and girls … limit bills to one item.
If an issue is so important that it should become a bill before our two houses, then let it stand on its own merits. The sponsors can then market and sell the bill as written using their statesmanship abilities and the merits of the bill.
Then, as the debate builds, we out here where the rubber meets the road can understand what the H--- you people are talking about in plain English.
No! No more patting us on the head and saying “You don’t understand, this issue is more complex and bringing in more items will help.”
There is no room in our government for the arrogance we’ve witnessed these past two months.
Representatives leaving the floor and Senators walking out in defiance to another Senator’s speech…nope, no more kissing and making up.
I strongly suggest we take away their favorite toy: Adding riders to bills.
If you agree, please run this report by your favorite representative to see if we can generate some healthy debate on the issue.
It will be a good year …