4 ms·
It is amazing to me how many critical aspects of an open democracy are dependent on rules of house/congress/parliament. This sort of unrelated/obfuscated claus
by soundsop 16y ago
It is amazing to me how many critical aspects of an open democracy are dependent on rules of house/congress/parliament.
This sort of unrelated/obfuscated clause insertion and the 60-vote requirement to defeat a filibuster are two prime examples.
Will there have to be constitutional amendments saying1) bills must be clear and address only one topic, and 2) simple majorities shall always rule, expect in pre-specified cases, and no parliamentary rules shall override simple majority in letter or in spirit.
- koanarc 16y agoSo Congress can't be trusted to pass simple bills, but they should be trusted to amend the Constitution?
- pyre 16y agoHey! Prohibition wasn't that bad...
- jerf 16y agoMy goodness, could you imagine it? The entire Bill of Rights would fit in the preamble of Amendment 28... quite possibly the entire Constitution as amended. (Because we all know Congress isn't serious about something unless it produces a bill measured in thousands of pages... and stop questioning their wisdom in creating such bills, you ignorant plebes.)
- ubernostrum 16y agoWill there have to be constitutional amendments saying1) bills must be clear and address only one topic Random historical tidbit: the Constitution of the Confederacy (for non-Americans: the Southern states which seceded during our civil war) had this requirement built in (one subject per bill, and the subject must be clearly stated). It also had a line-item veto, and placed strict limits on federal spending. Of course, it also had text permanently establishing slavery...
- fnid2 16y agoThey should have line-item vetoed that slavery bit and moved forward.