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Are you joking? People propose laws all the time. Maybe not in the specific legislative language that you need before you actually pass a bill, but certainly th

by harryh 9y ago

Are you joking? People propose laws all the time. Maybe not in the specific legislative language that you need before you actually pass a bill, but certainly the general idea. Journalists do it. Think tanks do it. Advocacy organizations do it. Even regular people do it. Haven't you ever heard someone say "There should be a law against that!" ?

avar 9y ago
So whenever someone says "there should be a law against that" that's something that should count against the GPs request for examples of laws that didn't pass? Then "annoying children in restaurants" or something equally absurd would be the #1 most requested law by that metric. I was referring to laws that would actually get presented to the legislature to vote on, which the GP is proposing as some metric, but as I'm pointing out can't be used as such because the very fact that it's made it that far is a function of special interests, think tanks etc.
- harryh 9y ago
  GP didn't ask about the most requested law. He asked for some examples of laws that, if they had been on the books in the financial crisis era but were prevented from being there by lobbying, would have ended up with people in prison due to their actions. He didn't say anything about "being presented to the legislature." As you make clear, the actual legislative votes aren't really all that important compared to everything that comes before that point.
  - avar 9y ago
    That request is just rhetorical grandstanding. There's no way for anyone to know what laws would have been realistically proposed and passed if the universe wasn't in the state that it's currently in. If you attempted to collate such a list you'd end up with an infinite amount of garbage, including but not limited to a proposed law that anyone suspected of wrongdoing be beheaded.
    - harryh 9y ago
      marricks asserted that no one went to jail because bankers hire lobbyists to make sure that laws are written in such a way as to make the jailing of bankers impossible. Asking for a specific example of when that has happened isn't rhetorical grandstanding, it's just asking for evidence to support a claim.
Spooky23 9y ago
Think tanks and advocacy groups are synonymous with lobbyists. It’s like a “rebels vs freedom fighter” thing.
dboreham 9y ago
The "people" proposing laws all the time are in fact paid shills. Writing laws is hard work.

by harryh 9y ago

avar 9y ago

So whenever someone says "there should be a law against that" that's something that should count against the GPs request for examples of laws that didn't pass? Then "annoying children in restaurants" or something equally absurd would be the #1 most requested law by that metric. I was referring to laws that would actually get presented to the legislature to vote on, which the GP is proposing as some metric, but as I'm pointing out can't be used as such because the very fact that it's made it that far is a function of special interests, think tanks etc.

harryh 9y ago
GP didn't ask about the most requested law. He asked for some examples of laws that, if they had been on the books in the financial crisis era but were prevented from being there by lobbying, would have ended up with people in prison due to their actions. He didn't say anything about "being presented to the legislature." As you make clear, the actual legislative votes aren't really all that important compared to everything that comes before that point.
- avar 9y ago
  That request is just rhetorical grandstanding. There's no way for anyone to know what laws would have been realistically proposed and passed if the universe wasn't in the state that it's currently in. If you attempted to collate such a list you'd end up with an infinite amount of garbage, including but not limited to a proposed law that anyone suspected of wrongdoing be beheaded.
  - harryh 9y ago
    marricks asserted that no one went to jail because bankers hire lobbyists to make sure that laws are written in such a way as to make the jailing of bankers impossible. Asking for a specific example of when that has happened isn't rhetorical grandstanding, it's just asking for evidence to support a claim.

Spooky23 9y ago

Think tanks and advocacy groups are synonymous with lobbyists. It’s like a “rebels vs freedom fighter” thing.

dboreham 9y ago

The "people" proposing laws all the time are in fact paid shills. Writing laws is hard work.