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Slow on the Draw

Wednesday, February 19th, 2003

Jacob Sullum beat me to it, but this NY Times piece on McCain-Feingold would be a riot if its repercussions didn’t involve, you know, laws that you and I are required to follow every day.

If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, the gist is this: lawmakers are resorting to taking classes to help them understand the intricacies of the beheamoth bit of campaign finance legislation. And even then, they don’t really understand it.

Hey, welcome to the wonderful world of federal regulation, friendly congresspersons! Gets a bit hairy when you actually have to start living by the laws you pass, doesn’t it?

What’s amazing is how few of our elected representatives actually read the bill they voted for.

“We sometimes leave our audiences in a state of complete shock,” says a lawyer who teaches the intricacies of McCain-Feingold to Democratic legislators. The seminars elicit “a sort of slack-jawed amazement at how far this thing reached.”

And this, from Rep. Robert Matsui, a champion of the bill:

The new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Representative Robert T. Matsui of California, who voted for McCain-Feingold, says he has been surprised by its fine print.

“I didn’t realize what all was in it,” Mr. Matsui said. “We have cautioned members: `You have to really understand this law. And if you have any ambiguity, err on the side of caution.’ “

Now, if Rep. Matsui votes for and vigorously endorses legislation directly affecting him, without reading or really understanding said piece of legislation, imagine how much attention he gives legislation that affects only you, or me — or minutia-laden OHSA or HIPAA regulations — before he blindly casts his vote.

Matsui, you may remember, has also been a leading opponent of private Social Security accounts, often attacking the idea with particularly biting vitriol when the TV cameras are rolling. You have to wonder if the good congressman from California has read the appropriate briefing papers, backgrounders and white papers, or if he really has the slightest idea what exactly it is he’s attacking, or defending.

After all, if he doesn’t even read the legislation that applies to him before voting on it, how much time do you think he’s really spent studying Social Security?

As a congressman, Social Security doesn’t really affect him at all.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 19th, 2003 at 8:46 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

43 Responses to “Slow on the Draw”

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    If they didn’t read it then, why read it now? They should have to fake it like the rest of us.

  2. #2 |  Frank N |  February 21st, 2003 at 5:26 am

    Why is my blood boiling?

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