Quote of the Day: "The economy is so bad the Mafia has started laying off judges." -- anonymous Internet joke

Subject: The myth of good intentions

A bill with a nice-sounding title, such as the "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)," passes Congress. Later, when its defects come to light, even the law's victims assume that the bill had "good intentions," but was "poorly written." I saw this sentiment expressed often while reading blogs about the CPSIA.

But I think these assumptions about "good intentions" are a little naive. After all, if Congress really had "good intentions" they would have taken the time and care to write a better bill that wouldn't have deprived poor children of second-hand winter coats. The fact that they didn't tells me that . . .

Their motive was good publicity, not good intentions.

That's why they rushed to pass a poorly-written law without reading it. As we've pointed out, had the "Read the Bills Act" (RTBA) been in force, Congress would have crafted a much better bill.

Yet members of Congress claim that RTBA is impractical, even though it could have prevented the destructive aspects of the CPSIA and the AIG bonus provision in the scam-stimulus bill, while still allowing them to pass as much as 8,000 pages of legislation each year.

The more Congress refuses to introduce, consider, or pass the RTBA, the less we can credit them for "good intentions." We must tell our personal elected representatives that . . .

• If they pass bills with secret provisions inserted at the last minute, they're just as guilty as the person who snuck it in.
• If they did not read a bill before voting for it, they are not motivated by good intentions.
• They are morally responsible for the unintended consequences of the poorly-worded laws they pass.

From early February through March 26, both the House and the Senate passed over 3,500 pages of legislation they didn't read. As taxpayers and law-abiding citizens, you and I are "on the hook" for Congress's phony good intentions. Please use our Educate the Powerful system to ask your representatives to pass DownsizeDC.org's "Read the Bills Act."

Use your personal comments to object to the fact that they passed 3,500 pages of legislation over two months, without reading it. Tell them they're the ones now on the hook:

• If they vote for massive bills without reading them, we'll remember.
• If they continue to ignore our demands to introduce the "Read the Bills Act," we'll remember.

If you've used our Educate the Powerful System before, the best way to send your message, given our current technical difficulties, is to log-in using the log-in button at the top of our home page. http://www.downsizedc.org/

Then, click on the campaign button on the navigation strip at the top of the page, then click on the "Read the Bills" campaign button at the top of the left hand column. That will call-up the page for sending your message.

If you're sending your first message to Congress, click on this link, fill out the simple registration form for first time users, and send your message.

Ask your friends to do the same by forwarding this message.

You can also spread the word by joining the Read the Bills Act Coalition. Details on adding your blog or website to the Coalition are found here.

This week we welcome five new members to the Coalition:

• Voxdan
• Rick Adkins aka rantingrick
• Privilege is Theft
• clc civics lessons
• American Sheepdog

To see the list of bills Congress passed, look below my signature in the blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being part of the Downsize DC Army.

James Wilson

Assistant to the President

DownsizeDC.org

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