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mtranda t1_j8x2wcw wrote

While I understand politicians need advisors, I feel that ultimately the full responsibility for the proposed law falls entirely on them (and should be written by them). Blatant cases such as allowing a lobbyist to "do your homework" should result in immediate dismissal and barring from any political position.

Edit: and punitive actions. I don't know about prison, but certainly life destroying financial penalties that would absolutely obliterate any wealth gained up to that point and force them into living like a regular citizen.

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emote_control t1_j8x6f77 wrote

And prison time. There's no excuse for betraying the public trust looked this.

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SirCorneliusRothford t1_j8xx985 wrote

Yeah it’s totally reasonable to have subject and industry experts weigh in on the policy you’re writing.

The problem is that politicians don’t actually check the homework that’s done for them. If you’re an engineer for a business and someone tells you “there’s no risks associated with this project,” you translate that as “I don’t know” and find someone else who can actually critique your plan. You don’t assume that there’s literally zero risk, because that just doesn’t happen

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Jaysnewphone t1_j8yx38n wrote

We have to pass it to find out what's in it.

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Blaiserd t1_j8yzcyh wrote

I hate this quote so much because it is always used out of context as a smear. Often it is twisted to imply something completely different, like you did here. The pronouns are the key to the quote. Speaker Pelosi was criticising the media for being purposefully deceitful.

The point was the negatives were screamed with a megaphone ad nauseam, but nobody talked about the potential good. Therefore "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."

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SurrealEstate t1_j8zane7 wrote

Some necessary background

> ...the contents of the Affordable Care Act had been publicly available and publicly debated for months when Pelosi made her remarks in March 2010. The bill, in its original form, was passed by the House of Representatives in October 2009, and in the Senate that December. Although the bill was unusually long (the act runs to 906 pages in the legislative record, with many more pages of regulations) its contents had been subjected to intensive debate and scrutiny in both houses of Congress.

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avanross t1_j8yq8fu wrote

I dont think the politicians wouldnt like laws that would hold the politicians responsible for their crimes.

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muncherofhay t1_j90kx2x wrote

I'll do you one better - it should be completely illegal for lobbyists to write any kind of cheque to any politician or PAC whatsoever. And every meeting a lobbyist takes with a public official should be broadcast on YouTube.

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mtranda t1_j90l3ja wrote

I'm not american, actually. The concept of a lobbyist, even without the financial aspect, is far too awkward for me to even be worth mentioning.

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prodriggs t1_j8z5k4v wrote

Republicans made it legal for corporations to write this legislation on the behalf of politicians. There's no chance in hell that this is changing any time soon. Just an fyi.

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