Legislating

Dave Roberts is annoyed to see the press portraying the Democrat's decision to push for an energy bill that was good on the merits and supported by a majority of members of the House and a majority of members of the Senate as a "misstep" because it wasn't sufficiently watered-down to overcome the opposition of a minority of senators.

I'm more accustomed to hearing the generic form of this complaint, but it is true that there's something very odd about this Washington tick of celebrating legislating as such as if the job of public officials was to "pass new laws" and their success or failure should simply be judged by the quantity of stuff they did. This reflects political reports preference for remaining ignorant of policy matters, but it doesn't make any sense as a point of view.

Comments

Nonsense like that will get you excommunicated from the Church of Broderism. "Getting things done" is good Matt, especially in a bi-partisan manner. Why do you care about the details? Seriously, let's stop arguing and get something done. I don't care what, but something.

Posted by d | December 17, 2007 12:15 PM

this is just the usual lazy man's impartiality, isn't it? Democrats Fail to Pass Bill doesn't require that you make judgements about whether the bill was a good one. (It wasn't, but energy bills never are, and the last one was worse)

Posted by heedless | December 17, 2007 12:23 PM

The bill is a joke, a bureaucratic approach that if passed would soon degenerate into a welter of cross subsidies, unintended consequences, unfathomable rules and regulations ripe for gaming by the usual crowd, and of course the rat-a-tat-tat of endless lawyering.

There's are reasons why other countries long ago choose fossil fuel taxation as the path to conservation. Maybe the republicratic a-holes who run Congress should figure out what they are.

Posted by kafka | December 17, 2007 2:45 PM

For chrissakes Matt, it's a "tic" not a "tick". A tick is one of those bugs that bites you and gives you Lyme disease.

Posted by SqueakyRat | December 17, 2007 2:47 PM

Bah! That meddlesome majority is always trying to subvert the will of the minority.

Posted by ben | December 17, 2007 3:20 PM