3 ms·

Could anyone enlighten a foreigner why these bills ('Fair Elections Now Act', http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S752: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/b

by mgw 16y ago

Could anyone enlighten a foreigner why these bills ('Fair Elections Now Act', http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S752: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S752:) seem stalled? Who decides when, which actions are taken on what bills?

gojomo 16y ago
Any legislator can submit a bill. The majority party's leadership has the greatest control over which bills get hearings or substantial votes. Most bills languish indefinitely in the committees they're referred to. Party senior leaders with keen regional or committee-jurisdiction interests in certain subjects have disproportionate influence on those subjects, but party discipline is far less than in a parliamentary system. The minority party can obstruct with a little help from dissenters in the majority, and can occasionally force some hearings/votes for show (even if their favored bills have little chance of passing).
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