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Unclogging the Plumbing of Congress


Magnus Rex

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https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/justin-amash

In this very special episode of The Political Orphanage, host Andrew Heaton takes a pragmatic, non-partisan look at the broken processes in Congress and enlists the help of former congressman Justin Amash (L-MI) to brainstorm ideas that would restore the open, deliberative processes that our federal legislature is supposed to be.

 

This is my #1 favorite political podcast, and this episode in particular is very closely related to a topic we had on the previous Dakota Hale site about what reforms would we like to see implemented. If political reform is a topic you like exploring it's worth a listen.

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1 hour ago, Magnus Rex said:

https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/justin-amash

In this very special episode of The Political Orphanage, host Andrew Heaton takes a pragmatic, non-partisan look at the broken processes in Congress and enlists the help of former congressman Justin Amash (L-MI) to brainstorm ideas that would restore the open, deliberative processes that our federal legislature is supposed to be.

 

This is my #1 favorite political podcast, and this episode in particular is very closely related to a topic we had on the previous Dakota Hale site about what reforms would we like to see implemented. If political reform is a topic you like exploring it's worth a listen.

Can you summarize some of the ideas? I don't have time to watch full episodes, unfortunately. But I'm interested. 

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Sure! Here are a few of the recommendations from former Congressman Amash:

  • Reopen the amendments process on the House floor, which had been an open process up until Speakers Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi shut it down to consolidate power
  • Give congressional committees the autonomy to select their own Chairmanships.
    • Historically a committee chair was given out by party leadership based on seniority;
    • More recently it's become a "pay to play" form of grift where committee chairs are awarded to the partisan who brings in the biggest donation check
  • Set a window of time for reviewing proposed Bills
    • On a previous thread about reforms, I proposed 1 hour for each page, and not long ago one or more members of the Senate and House had proposed 1 day per 10 pages
    • Currently the House does have a "3 day window" and the tactic that has emerged is that it a Bill will be introduced on the House floor at 11:59pm on Day 1, and a vote will be called for at 12:01am on Day 3. So in reality it's 24 hours even though 3 calendar days had been touched

And this might be my personal favorite of proposed reforms from Amash:

  • Make legislation easier to read
    •  Current legislation is loaded with cross-references to other legislation and full of highly technical legal jargon
    • Amash had proposed a reform during his tenure on Capitol Hill (which was, of course, quashed) to make revisions to Bills similar to "Track Changes" in Microsoft Word, to make edits and revisions to written law easier to read and understand - he attests that the Michigan state legislature operates this way successfully
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