House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers's (D-MI) statement Tuesday (0:38) about not being able to read a 1,000-page bill in two days informs us officially of what everyone inside the Beltway already knew: legislators lack the time to read much of what is put in front of them for a vote, even had they the inclination to do so. Go one step further: legislators could not even read most bills even were they so inclined. They are drafted in technical language, striking designated sections and replacing them with new language, whose impact is so arcane only seasoned Hill staff can decipher. To figure out the 1,071 page monstrosity passed off as a stimulus bill (it wasn't one) last February would have taken staffers days, with the bill chopped into numerous small chunks and analyzed by specialists in each area.
Bottom Line. While bad faith plays a part in ramming through bills no one has read, the sad reality is that modern government is too vast and complex an enterprise for it to be within anyone's span of comprehension. The only cure for this is vastly less government, which will never happen. Get used to your legislators not reading legislation they vote on, and get used to their not even being able to understand what such legislation means, without specialized staff support explaining what bills mean.
WILL LAWMAKERS READ BILLS THEY VOTE ON? FAT CHANCE!
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