This afternoon the US Senate, by an overwhelming majority, approved a rollback of a provision of the PATRIOT Act. This provision was a blantant disregard for the seperation of powers that sits at the heart of the Constitution: it allowed the attorney general appoint U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation.
Why did the Senate pass such a law in the first place? Because they didn't read it. They didn't read the bill before voting on it. And this wasn't some random farm bill, this politically charged proposal was-and still is-at the center of the public discourse concerning the war on terror. What other laws are they passing that they did not read? (That they did not read the bills they vote on is, sadly, not uncommon.)
Since such sloppiness is clearly not being punished by firing the offending parties, then more drastic measures should be taken. Every person who has the capacity to vote for a bill must read it, in full, aloud and in front of a camera and their peers before they are allowed to vote in favor of it.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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In case you missed it, the Nation *did* fire the offending senators and congressmpeople on November 8th, 2006. Unfortunately, the new Congress hadn't sworn their oaths until after that shoddy example of executive branch overrreaching had been approved and signed into law by the President.
I suspect there will be more such incidents.
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