Be wary of these clues to bad legislation
Times of crisis are gifts to politicians wanting to pass laws that otherwise may not be considered. These laws cater to their personal or party objectives and agenda. These laws increase government oversight and control. These laws increase government spending and debt. And often these laws directly impact your liberties and rights through restrictions, regulations, or even elimination. Constitutional rights are not supposed to be infringed on, but that doesn't stop politicians (and their supporters) from trying.
Take gun control advocates. They would eliminate the Second Amendment if they could. Many won't admit that, but that's what their honest answer would be. Since they can't they pursue whatever they can to infringe on that right. Extra and high taxes on guns and ammo. Questions on health and insurance forms regarding guns in the home. Increasing gun registration laws. Tracking databases for gun owners and ammo purchases. Red flag laws that include un-Constitutional restrictions. Prohibitions for transporting firearms from a private residence to a shooting range (or other location). Even though the Second Amendment specifically states the right "shall not be infringed" it doesn't stop gun control advocates (including politicians) from trying to do so.
But gun control is just one area where freedoms and rights are being attacked. Your freedom and liberties are being threatened daily by legislation from cities, to the state, to the federal level. These proposed pieces of legislation (bills) seek to restrict, regulate, or even eliminate Constitutional rights.
It doesn't take much effort to find bills that would prohibit in some way the "free exercise" of religion. It's also not had to find proposed laws which would abridge the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, or to petition the government.
It's not hard to find cases where people are denied due process of law, or bills which would infringe upon or take away this right.
We can also find bills (and passed legislation) that allow for unreasonable searches and seizures, and which infringe upon the right of someone to be "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects." This is particularly concerned in the arena of digital "paper" where more laws are being considered for unlawful searches and even seizures.
There are clues to bad proposed bills/legislation. Questionable parts include:
Other clues include:
It's because legislators know once a bill is passed into law it becomes extremely unlikely to be repealed. And it's difficult to change things in the law because legislators put pet projects/desires/wants/etc. into the law and use them as leverage to prevent changes that are unfavorable.
And why does something have to happen quickly?
It's because many constituents think politicians should do something quickly. Too many people think it's the government's job to fix problems, and politicians love to oblige because it's an opportunity to include some of their pet items, pork projects, or personal/party agenda items--all unrelated to the problem--with minimal scrutiny.
Here are two more clues that the legislation is bad, or at least contains bad parts.
First, the bill/propose legislation is really long, especially for a short period of time. How do you come up with hundreds of, let alone more than a thousand, pages of good proposed legislation in a short period of time? Unless you already know what you want BEFORE the crisis or event that launches the "need" for the legislation. The other way is lots of people put in all their parts and it's thrown together. No wonder they may want to "pass the legislation to see what's in it"--they don't want to take the time to read everything, they know what they want is in it and since it was likely pieced together by like-minded legislators, they think all of it will be palatable to vote on.
The second clue is the legislators want to pass the bill quickly. I'm an analytical person so I can't understand how anyone can honestly say they have read through, studied, and understand a bill well-enough to vote on it in just a few days. At the very minimum I think legislators need at least 1 day for every 100 pages of legislation, and that is fast. Remember they're considering multiple bills at the same time, even if they're not voting on all of them at the same time. How can anyone give due diligence and really understand and investigate possible ramifications or unintended consequences if they are rushed to vote?
The politicians, proponents, and supporters of the bill will push the highlights, headlines, subheads, and all the good talking points. Anyone against the bill will be labeled as being against whatever "good" is being promoted. The parts being questioned will be ignored, or brushed aside as not being important.
The politicians don't want to be held accountable or have their bills scrutinized or questioned. Anyone questioning any part of the proposed legislation will be vilified, or attacked in some way but the question or concern won't be seriously addressed.
There are reasons politicians don't want to let a good crisis go to waste. It is when legislation is passed that causes the most harm, spends the most money, and restricts, regulates, or reduces your freedoms and Constitutional rights. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people in politics who give lip service to the Constitution, but they don't like the restrictions it places on them.
Finally, I will say that the majority of legislation does have good parts. If it was all bad, it probably wouldn't pass. It needs some good so the proponents can point to those parts and rave about how good it will be and benefits it will provide once its passed. Most people believe the politicians, proponents, and supporters because they like the good parts. And many people blindly believe any bad parts will be changed or fixed later.
However, bad mixed in with good does not make the bill good. It doesn't take much lemon to sour something. The legislators don't want to take the bad out because they want it. They don't want to fix it now because they don't want it fixed. It's extremely rare that a bad piece of proposed legislation can't be changed. They may not want to take the time and effort, they may want it, and they certainly don't want to explain why it's needed and an important piece of the bill.
Take gun control advocates. They would eliminate the Second Amendment if they could. Many won't admit that, but that's what their honest answer would be. Since they can't they pursue whatever they can to infringe on that right. Extra and high taxes on guns and ammo. Questions on health and insurance forms regarding guns in the home. Increasing gun registration laws. Tracking databases for gun owners and ammo purchases. Red flag laws that include un-Constitutional restrictions. Prohibitions for transporting firearms from a private residence to a shooting range (or other location). Even though the Second Amendment specifically states the right "shall not be infringed" it doesn't stop gun control advocates (including politicians) from trying to do so.
But gun control is just one area where freedoms and rights are being attacked. Your freedom and liberties are being threatened daily by legislation from cities, to the state, to the federal level. These proposed pieces of legislation (bills) seek to restrict, regulate, or even eliminate Constitutional rights.
It doesn't take much effort to find bills that would prohibit in some way the "free exercise" of religion. It's also not had to find proposed laws which would abridge the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, or to petition the government.
It's not hard to find cases where people are denied due process of law, or bills which would infringe upon or take away this right.
We can also find bills (and passed legislation) that allow for unreasonable searches and seizures, and which infringe upon the right of someone to be "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects." This is particularly concerned in the arena of digital "paper" where more laws are being considered for unlawful searches and even seizures.
There are clues to bad proposed bills/legislation. Questionable parts include:
- Excessive spending and little (or no) accountability for it
- Lots of pork--pet projects and money for the legislators' areas
- Lots of money for projects, programs, etc. that are unrelated to the main subject of the bill
- Restrictions on freedom and rights
- Excessive government overreach--increased involvement of government in your life
- It's worth it if we can save one life
- It's for the greater good
- we need it to protect our children [or other vulnerable population, but they like to use children the most]
- we need it to keep our children safe
- It's to protect our community/city
- We need it to increase safety/protection
Other clues include:
- It's not perfect, but we can fix it later
- It's not perfect, but we need to do something now/quickly
- We need to pass it so you know what's in it
It's because legislators know once a bill is passed into law it becomes extremely unlikely to be repealed. And it's difficult to change things in the law because legislators put pet projects/desires/wants/etc. into the law and use them as leverage to prevent changes that are unfavorable.
And why does something have to happen quickly?
It's because many constituents think politicians should do something quickly. Too many people think it's the government's job to fix problems, and politicians love to oblige because it's an opportunity to include some of their pet items, pork projects, or personal/party agenda items--all unrelated to the problem--with minimal scrutiny.
Here are two more clues that the legislation is bad, or at least contains bad parts.
First, the bill/propose legislation is really long, especially for a short period of time. How do you come up with hundreds of, let alone more than a thousand, pages of good proposed legislation in a short period of time? Unless you already know what you want BEFORE the crisis or event that launches the "need" for the legislation. The other way is lots of people put in all their parts and it's thrown together. No wonder they may want to "pass the legislation to see what's in it"--they don't want to take the time to read everything, they know what they want is in it and since it was likely pieced together by like-minded legislators, they think all of it will be palatable to vote on.
The second clue is the legislators want to pass the bill quickly. I'm an analytical person so I can't understand how anyone can honestly say they have read through, studied, and understand a bill well-enough to vote on it in just a few days. At the very minimum I think legislators need at least 1 day for every 100 pages of legislation, and that is fast. Remember they're considering multiple bills at the same time, even if they're not voting on all of them at the same time. How can anyone give due diligence and really understand and investigate possible ramifications or unintended consequences if they are rushed to vote?
The politicians, proponents, and supporters of the bill will push the highlights, headlines, subheads, and all the good talking points. Anyone against the bill will be labeled as being against whatever "good" is being promoted. The parts being questioned will be ignored, or brushed aside as not being important.
The politicians don't want to be held accountable or have their bills scrutinized or questioned. Anyone questioning any part of the proposed legislation will be vilified, or attacked in some way but the question or concern won't be seriously addressed.
There are reasons politicians don't want to let a good crisis go to waste. It is when legislation is passed that causes the most harm, spends the most money, and restricts, regulates, or reduces your freedoms and Constitutional rights. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people in politics who give lip service to the Constitution, but they don't like the restrictions it places on them.
Finally, I will say that the majority of legislation does have good parts. If it was all bad, it probably wouldn't pass. It needs some good so the proponents can point to those parts and rave about how good it will be and benefits it will provide once its passed. Most people believe the politicians, proponents, and supporters because they like the good parts. And many people blindly believe any bad parts will be changed or fixed later.
However, bad mixed in with good does not make the bill good. It doesn't take much lemon to sour something. The legislators don't want to take the bad out because they want it. They don't want to fix it now because they don't want it fixed. It's extremely rare that a bad piece of proposed legislation can't be changed. They may not want to take the time and effort, they may want it, and they certainly don't want to explain why it's needed and an important piece of the bill.
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