Voting is already pretty vigorous. What are people voting on? I downloaded the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (the Ryan/Murray budget), it is 77 pages of legalese. So without reading the actual bill, people must voting on one of the following:
1.) TV news channel interpretation of the budget (Fox, MSNBC, CNN, etc.)
2.) The 4 page summary put out by the House which is vague at best
3.) Press releases put out by legislators which are nothing more than their spin to justify how they are going to vote regardless of your input.
Unfortunately, that is probably the criteria used by our Representatives. I think back to when Chris Lee was still in office and I was calling him to express concerns. After leaving several messages, his legislative director called me back. During a long conversation and a moment of unexpected candor she finally leveled with me and said that Representatives have on average over 3,000 pieces of legislation a year to vote on and can't possibly read them all. BINGO!
Vote no. It raises spending and the debt. The promised cuts to come in future years will never come. We would be better off with a continuing resolution that keeps the current deal with the automatic spending cuts.
I like it, Jeff. It would also be a step towards getting the state to get away from it's party driven ballot access, and we can have more independent minded representatives.
I believe Shorty Ryan has
I believe Shorty Ryan has made it clear to his Republican colleagues what will become of any dissenters.
Voting is already pretty
Voting is already pretty vigorous. What are people voting on? I downloaded the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (the Ryan/Murray budget), it is 77 pages of legalese. So without reading the actual bill, people must voting on one of the following:
1.) TV news channel interpretation of the budget (Fox, MSNBC, CNN, etc.)
2.) The 4 page summary put out by the House which is vague at best
3.) Press releases put out by legislators which are nothing more than their spin to justify how they are going to vote regardless of your input.
Unfortunately, that is probably the criteria used by our Representatives. I think back to when Chris Lee was still in office and I was calling him to express concerns. After leaving several messages, his legislative director called me back. During a long conversation and a moment of unexpected candor she finally leveled with me and said that Representatives have on average over 3,000 pieces of legislation a year to vote on and can't possibly read them all. BINGO!
Vote no. It raises spending
Vote no. It raises spending and the debt. The promised cuts to come in future years will never come. We would be better off with a continuing resolution that keeps the current deal with the automatic spending cuts.
This might be a way to start
This might be a way to start getting politicians who represent people, not parties:
http://orleanshub.com/news/Albion-village-elections-may-go-independent…
John that isn't totally
John that isn't totally accurate in this case.
http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90046&sitesectio…
I like it, Jeff. It would
I like it, Jeff. It would also be a step towards getting the state to get away from it's party driven ballot access, and we can have more independent minded representatives.