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Congress Needs to Speed Read Like Crazy to Study Stimulus

At 1,434 pages, 13 hours hardly enough

By Gabriel Winant,  Newser User

Posted Feb 13, 2009 7:09 AM CST

(Newser) – It might be called a stimulus bill, but it’s far from stimulating reading. At 1,434 pages, and written in the usual incomprehensible legalese, the stimulus is going to be passed unread by members of Congress. That’s no fault of theirs, blogs Jimmie Bise at the Sundries Shack; to read the bill in time, they would have to average 640.5 words per minute for 13 hours.

“If anyone needs a potty break, they’d better take the bill with them,” Bise writes. Democrats say we need the bill fast, but pushing for a 9am vote seems a little much. “Just know as you’re at work tomorrow," he wrote yesterday, "that the Democrats will be voting to spend about $800 billion dollars without having the foggiest idea what they’ll be spending it all on.”

House Republican Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, responds to questions Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington.
House Republican Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, responds to questions Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, center, talks about the agreement on the $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create millions of jobs and help take the nation out of recession, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009. She is joined by fellow lawmakers, left to right: Sen. Susan...
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, center, talks about the agreement on the $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create millions of jobs and help take the nation out of recession, at the Capitol...   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks during a news conference on the stimulus legislation, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks during a news conference on the stimulus legislation, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Supporters of this bill have said that they have to “do something” fast. Well, that’s exactly what they’re going to do - “something”. I suggest that we stop them from passing this bill until they can at least tell us exactly what that “something” is. -

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
Guest
Feb 16, 2009 4:02 AM CST
They've had versions for months. Can't these people keep up?
Doctor-Zaius
Feb 14, 2009 6:21 AM CST
They know what's in it because they either wrote it or got the skinny from their fellow congressmen who did or they had their staffers pour over it and give them the condensed version . I have news for all of you. Nobody in congress has read an entire bill since the 50's. They pay people to do that.
Guest
Feb 14, 2009 12:08 AM CST
Here is what passed for the common folks, like, me . $400.oo tax relieve. I do not know about you bout that translates out to $7.40 cents per week.. Now if Deroit could just build a car for that all our problems would be solved.

You're showing your economic illiteracy: the whole point of the stimulus bill is to throw money around
New Republic

 
Congress • Senate Republicans • economic stimulus package • House Republicans • financial crisis

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