Rapid Fire Legislation Cheats Everyone

Shortchanging Us Through Our Elected Voices

The crafting of the Graham-Cassidy “healthcare” bill demonstrates the epitome of how the checks and balance system built into our democracy is being unreasonably exploited and distorted to the electorate’s detriment. The legislators that are resorting to gamesmanship to simply place a check mark on an agenda must be urged to perform in a fashion consistent with how our government is designed to function. The American people are victim to an evolution of the lawmaking process that, if allowed to continue, will make the checks and balance process unrecognizable and totally dysfunctional. Lawmaking is being done in a secretive process initiated by a few select members to include only the agenda of the authors. The legislation produced by this process is then placed on a ridiculously short time schedule that prohibits the comprehensive review and debate/comment by rank and file legislators built into the legislative system. The lawmakers are then asked to vote on the bill before the review of the Congressional Budget Office (a non-partisan entity) has been published. How could a responsible elected official vote on legislation that hasn’t been properly vetted?

The idea that something as important as health care reform is being ramrodded by a handful of our elected officials is shameful. Why is it so important to usurp the process of bipartisan committee development; evaluation by the Congressional Budget Office and debate and approval by both houses of Congress prior to sending it to the President?  Departing from the typical program for creating or modifying any legislation is suspect and should be challenged by the voters who put the lawmakers in office.

We, the American voters of all political persuasions, need to provide loud and boisterous objection to this repugnant process that is taking all control away from us by the secretive methods being employed to “reform” government involvement in our lives.

Healthcare is just the tip of the iceberg with respect of how we are being shortchanged by our elected representatives. This method is being increasingly employed in almost every important legislation and must be stopped to allow the electorate the voice they deserve and should demand of the lawmaking process.