Cowards in Congress

As of now I have not written about the much talked about health care reform.  That has been intentional for one main reason: I want people to learn and understand more about politics than just the issues currently at hand.  But, today I learned that two crucial parts of the bill were voted on and I realized that we are stuck with cowards in congress.

In previous posts, I have already discussed how members of congress voted 20 years ago to have an annual salary increase - obviously taking any undue pressure off of themselves by having to publicly vote for it each year.  But it is not only issues that affect them that are cowardly; it is also issues that affect us.  Over the past couple of days, congress has rejected attempts to insert stronger anti-abortion provisions and provisions that would require photo ID to prove eligibility for benefits under federal health programs.

Does this mean that Representative Wilson was right to yell, "you lie" during President Obama's speech when he claimed that the health care bill would not be extended to illegal aliens?  Possibly (although extremely disrespectful).  The truth is, President Obama can't be certain of such a statement about illegal aliens or abortions.  Our cowards in congress write the bills in a language that can be interpreted in multiple ways. 

They do this so that at election time they can swing the campaign speeches to persuade the necessary voters.  For example, he/she can say that they voted for a health care bill that restricted any funds being used for abortions.  However, they also voted against stronger opposition to these same restrictions thus possibly allowing funds to be used for just that - abortions.  I say possibly because if the wording isn't clear, then it is up to a judge to interpret.  It's not always what's in the bill that matters, it's also what isn't in the bill that matters! 

The issue I'm talking about isn't abortions or illegal aliens or pay raises.  The issue I am talking about is taking a stand and sticking to it.  If you say that your bill will not allow X to happen, then support legislation that insures that X doen't happen. 

The health care bill isn't the only time this has happened or the only time it will happen.  Congress writes in an evasive language on purpose.  The language is open to interpretation on purpose.  That purpose is so they can get re-elected without ever having to take a stand for anything.  Instead, they leave the interpretation up to the Supreme Court Justices (who are appointed for life and don't have to worry about the repercussions of actually taking a stand).  The Justices are then responsible for determining what Congress intended the law to mean.  Here's an idea, let's lighten the load of the Supreme Court and possibly eliminate a couple hundred pages from the bills by writing in a clear language to begin with.  Why are nine Justices responsible for interpreting what 535 members of Congress are saying?    

And even a little more cowardly, also this week, they voted against releasing the bills 72 hours prior to voting on them.  We all learned from the "bailout" that they don't read the bills, but shouldn't we be able too?