Read the bill

*Originally published on 8/25/09



Obama's health care bill has been the subject of some debate. It has both ardent supporters and detractors. While the left claims that the anger is "manufactured" there are people who really are uneasy with some of the things in the bill. When questioned on whether or not they actually read the bill, congressmen answered with an obvious no. The bills are a thousand pages. This isn't the only time they've done it, they frequently just skim bills because of their great length.

This makes no sense to me. You're running a country for crying out loud. Isn't it common sense not to sign something unless you've read it? That's what they always say when someone hands you a contract of some sort, because you don't want to sign off on something you'll regret. It's basic stuff. You're affecting policy on a national scale, I think the least you can do is put in the work and read the thing. A lot of this stuff is kind of important and you could cause a lot of problems if you don't pay attention to what you're doing.

"But the bill's too long and I don't wanna"

...What are you, 12? Read it! I'm certain that it will be a boring read and not at all compelling. A thousand pages about health care? Yeah, I don't envy you, but this is the career you chose, this is what we elected you to do, and that's what we pay you for. You have two options here, you can either start drafting shorter bills so that you can read them quicker, or put in the extra effort and peruse the things.

This is especially important with something like health care. It's too important for you to just shrug it off. I don't even get how you can come out in support of or against something you don't really know the nature of. This goes both ways, maybe liberals will find something in the bill that they don't like or conservatives will find something they do like. It doesn't really matter whether you support or oppose the bill, but I think you should at least read the thing so that you know what you're supporting or detracting.

People will still disagree with you, no matter what side you come out on. It's pretty standard with divisive issues like this, but at least you'll know what you're talking about and can answer questions that people may have. You really have nothing to lose by reading it. Well, there's time, but I'd say it's a fair trade. You'd be able to better state your case in debates and the people will respect you for going the extra mile to make sure the bill really does benefit them as opposed to just adding another needless tax that gets taken out of their paychecks.