countableus: “ This resolution would make it ‘out of order’ to vote on any legislation in the Senate until one day has passed for every 20 pages of text in the bill after it has been introduced.Plus one day for all remaining pages numbering less than...
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countableus:

This resolution would make it ‘out of order’ to vote on any legislation in the Senate until one day has passed for every 20 pages of text in the bill after it has been introduced.Plus one day for all remaining pages numbering less than 20.

Argument In Favor: Congress should never vote on a bill before they (and the American people) have a chance to figure out what the legislation does. This bill holds lawmakers accountable and brings much needed transparency to the legislative process.

Argument Opposed: At best, this bill would be a speed bump in the day-to-day operations of the Senate, at worst it would have little to no effect. The Senate does much of its work by unanimous consent anyways, so the vote threshold isn’t much of a barrier.

Official Title: A resolution to provide sufficient time for legislation to be read.

(via countableus)

Source: countable.us

‘Tis The Season to Give Thanks to Your Lawmaker(s’ Staffers)

Congressional staffers work hard. They’re underpaid, they spend long hours toiling away on a bewildering number of issues. Worse than that? They have to deal with us.

By and large, they do so politely and respectfully — the countless cogs in the government machine; the hard-working elves in Santa’s workshop (or non-denominational holiday workshop of your choice) keeping their nose to the grindstone all year so their boss can get the credit for one measly night of delivering the toys over which they tirelessly labored.

Well, you get the idea: Being a Congressional staffer is a pretty thankless job.

Keep reading…