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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday April 14 2019, @09:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the this-is-my-shocked-face dept.

An investigation into nearly 1 million bills across all 50 US states showed a high proportion of proposed US laws being written by lobbyists. The investigation was based on computer analysis of the similarities in language used in the bills. Additionally, copycat legislation is a problem. That is where states copy-paste key parts of proposed legislation from each other, and often the original is can be traced back to lobbyists. Many tricks are used to increase acceptance of these bills such as use of deceptive titles, misleading endorsements, copied bills to override locally sourced bills, and more. The article includes several graphics showing the distribution of bad practices across the states.

A two-year investigation by USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic and the Center for Public Integrity reveals for the first time the extent to which special interests have infiltrated state legislatures using model legislation.

USA TODAY and the Republic found at least 10,000 bills almost entirely copied from model legislation were introduced nationwide in the past eight years, and more than 2,100 of those bills were signed into law.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:33AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:33AM (#829724)

    This is nuts, no wonder its been so ridiculously easy for me to make money via investing. People (eg you) have no idea how the financial world works at all, and are actually incapable of learning about it beyond rote memorization.

    I understand the concept you're trying to get across. I'd point out that the Federal Reserve doesn't make loans to individuals.

    As such, the concept to which you refer is not a part of supply-side economics.

    tl;dr: you're talking out of your ass and it smells that way too.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:40AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:40AM (#829726)

    You would point out to me the federal reserve doesn't make loans to individuals. Holy crap man, it is clear you haven't understood a single word. I feel like the rich guy in BASEketball.

    And above you think it is an important point that the fed is private, once again totally irrelevant.

    Rich people have more money, they spend it, it trickles down. That is the entire idea behind trickle down economics. Where the money comes from is irrelevant. That the money isn't going to individuals is exactly what makes it trickle down.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:56AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:56AM (#829730)

      You would point out to me the federal reserve doesn't make loans to individuals. Holy crap man, it is clear you haven't understood a single word.

      I (and now I can't get that time back. More's the pity) paid close attention.

      But you haven't said anything that was worth listening to.

      You made claims that are unsupported by evidence (and you still haven't provided any) and made additional absurd statements that are false on their face.

      I think I've given you enough rope. Is that noose tight enough? Ciao, Baby!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @11:54AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @11:54AM (#829763)

        You didn't comprehend anything I wrote.