I have been wanting to write a post about a particular topic that I've been hearing a lot about lately, but I had something I wanted to include in it that I've not yet been able to get a hold of. So, that post will have to be postponed but hopefully only until tomorrow.
In the meantime, in the interest of posting something I thought I'd just give another short list of dumb legislation that has recently been introduced into the U.S. Congress. I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Google Reader and through this have subscribed to the "Introduced Legislation" feed from GovTrack. So, practically every other day I'm treated to at least 50+ new pieces of legislation that our intrepid governmental representatives have introduced in the House or Senate. Here are a few that have popped up in the last week or so (yes, there is little that our federal government has not stuck its nose into)--
H.R. 1117: Medically Fragile Children's Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
H.R. 1124: Honoring Female Congressional Pioneers Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
H.R. 1137: Athletic Trainers' Equal Access to Medicare Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
H.R. 1110: PHONE Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA) **This is a really good one**
S. 456: A bill to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop guidelines to be used on a voluntary basis to develop plans to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs, to establish school-based food allergy management grants, and for other purposes, introduced by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
H.R. 1084: To require the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe a standard to preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany, introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
S. 448: A bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media, introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) **Federally compelled disclosure?? Scary.**
H.Res. 169: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Robert Burns was a true friend of the United States, that his work inspired the citizens of this Nation, as well as his native Scotland, and that the annual celebration of his birth is a tradition that transcends national boundaries, and as a result, should be observed in communities around the world, introduced by Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) **If you aren't familiar with Robert Burns, take a look at his link and you'll discover the impetus behind the introduction of this bill "celebrating" his poetry**
S. 450: A bill to understand and comprehensively address the oral health problems associated with methamphetamine use, introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
H. Con. Res. 50: Honoring and saluting Motown Records of Detroit, Michigan, on its 50th anniversary, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
H. Res. 164: Condemning Pakistan's release of nuclear scientist Adbul Qadeer Khan from house arrest, introduced by Rep. Edward Royce (R-CA)
H. Res. 166: Recognizing the 450th birthday of the settlement of Pensacola, Florida and encouraging the people of the United States to observe the 450th birthday of the settlement of Pensacola, Florida, and remember how the rich history of Pensacola, Florida, has likewise contributed to the rich history of the United States, and for other purposes, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Ok...so I didn't mean to post this many bills but as I scrolled through my list, there were so many good ones that I couldn't help it. So, enjoy this useless garbage being produced by our legislators...I'm going to go finish watching Obama's speech and Nancy Pelosi get whiplash leaping out of her chair every 15 seconds. (I can just hear Joe Biden whispering under his breath--"Damn it, Nancy! Quit standing up...you're making me look bad!")
**My husband just pointed out to me that my list might make it seem like I'm "picking on the Democrats." As I'm looking back at my list, there is indeed a disproportionate number of Democrat-introduced legislation but I swear I didn't do this on purpose. I just went down the list of titles and descriptions of the introduced bills and picked those that stood out the most; it's just a coincidence that the majority were from Democrats. Actually, I suppose this isn't exactly a true "coincidence"--the anthropologist in me cannot help but point out that the fact that I felt that more of the Democrat-sponsored bills could be classified as "frivolous" than the Republican-sponsored bills means something about me. This also likewise probably says something about the philosophical differences between Democrats and Republicans...even though I still think they're mostly the same.**
4 comments:
I am strongly in favor of H.R. 1084, also I think Dennis agrees with me. That is really annoying when you've calibrated the volume level to the show that you're watching, and then you have to keep changing it when some annoying loud commercial comes on.
I have a comment about this bill.
H.R. 1137: Athletic Trainers' Equal Access to Medicare Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
This bill is intended to allow physicians to decide which health care providers have the education and skills to provide treatment and rehabilitation services to his or her patients. Rather than than having the federal government dictate who can provide these services. Why is it a frivolous piece of legislation to have a physician and patient discuss their healthcare and choose the best possible treatment and rehabilitation for their condition?
First of all, I believe that Medicare should be abolished because it's not the job of the federal government to provide health care insurance to everyone. But apart from that, it appears to me that the main purpose of this particular act is to permit those on Medicare to receive covered services from "certified athletic trainers." From my research, I don't understand why people on Medicare (65 and over or disabled)would have any need to visit an athletic trainer when Medicare already covers various other physical therapy-type services. I will readily admit, though, that I do not know enough about the field of rehabilitative medicine to know all of the differences between a physical therapist and an athletic trainer and why it would be important that seniors have access to athletic trainer services. If you know more about this, I'm certainly open to being enlightened...I'm not being facetious, I welcome clarification and discussion. Thanks for reading and thanks for your comment!
i'm in full support of H.R. 1084. the market should've fixed it but it hasn't. apparently the ad sales people still sell increased volume spots and everyone's buying them. it's ugly and annoying and needs to stop. it's a simple fix and this legislation will make it. let's just do it and move on.
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