Wednesday, February 24, 2010
That's more like it.
The Lower Nuthouse is showing momentary signs of sanity. With near unanimity (after some pointless rhetorical fireworks) they've passed HR 4626 repealing the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies.
Notable in two ways:
(1) In recent years the gov't has been totally unable to repeal anything. Each law or regulation has become Eternal Word, Engraved In Stone By The Lord, no matter how much damage it creates. HR 4626 is a real reversal of a long-standing law that has done considerable damage to consumers.
Can we hope for a precedent? Now that they know it's actually possible to repeal an existing law, will they try it again? Probably not.
(2) It's a single step, more like the way sane legislative bodies make laws.
The Feds have acquired the evil habit of writing everything into monstrous once-a-year omnibus bills, thus removing all accountability or feedback. Either you vote for the ten thousand sneaky poison pills along with the dozen good provisions, or your opponent will accuse you of voting against the good stuff. Today marks a small return to normal parliamentary practice. ¶ 12:59 PM
Notable in two ways:
(1) In recent years the gov't has been totally unable to repeal anything. Each law or regulation has become Eternal Word, Engraved In Stone By The Lord, no matter how much damage it creates. HR 4626 is a real reversal of a long-standing law that has done considerable damage to consumers.
Can we hope for a precedent? Now that they know it's actually possible to repeal an existing law, will they try it again? Probably not.
(2) It's a single step, more like the way sane legislative bodies make laws.
The Feds have acquired the evil habit of writing everything into monstrous once-a-year omnibus bills, thus removing all accountability or feedback. Either you vote for the ten thousand sneaky poison pills along with the dozen good provisions, or your opponent will accuse you of voting against the good stuff. Today marks a small return to normal parliamentary practice. ¶ 12:59 PM
