I think it’s time for another singular cry from the wilds of rural Iowa: government, especially the federal government, is too complicated.
I am reminded of this each year when the tax forms arrive in the mail. Depending on your circumstances, property ownership, investments, etc., it could take you from now until the April 15th deadline to accurately figure out your taxes or to find a qualified tax professional to do them for you.
I still think the solution might be to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and go to a national sales tax. But that’s an argument I’ve put forth before and may resurrect at another time.
I’ve commented on the health care debate in the past. But what’s bothering me this time is the sheer complexity of the bills before Congress now. Congress decided it would tackle health care reform and almost overnight, we had a bill of over 1,400 pages to consider. At last report, after some members of Congress successfully got sweet deals for their states or districts, we now have a bill that may be over 2,000 pages.
Has anybody outside of Washington had the courage to ask why? We seem to be living in an era of a camouflage of words and it’s only getting worse. This is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue, nor is it a Conservative vs. Liberal issue. By literal definition, a true conservative would want to simplify language in bills and communications coming out of Washington. Liberals, it would seem, would want to use even more words in bills and their reports home. But can it get much worse?
When the president or a member of Congress makes a lengthy statement of some sort, almost immediately the cable news channels assemble a panel of a half-dozen “experts” to interpret what we’ve just heard. Fewer words would seem to equal the need for fewer experts.
I’m convinced that many politicians are in love with the sound of their own voice. If you want a laugh sometime, tune in to C-Span some day or even some evening when Congress is in session. Sometimes you will see a member of the House or Senate giving some long, drawn-out speech. Quite often, if you look closely in the background, you will see a lot of empty seats. The speaker will act like he or she is addressing a stadium full of spectators, when the only other people in the chamber are staff members who must be there whenever the lights are on. But in order for the views of the speaker to be recorded in the Congressional Record, he or she must read the speech on the floor of the House or Senate.
Another glut of words.
A few decades ago, as a freshman in a college journalism class, I was stunned when our instructor walked to the blackboard and wrote in big letters: K.I.S.S. When the muffled laughter subsided, he added these words: Keep It Simple Stupid. In high school and college, when a teacher would assign a paper of 20 or 30 pages, I always wondered if they really read each of our submissions. I was tempted at times to slip in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address just to see if anyone would catch it.
Sometimes I wonder if the same could be said of some of the legislation coming from Washington. How many members of Congress have read every word of those proposed health care bills? Maybe they should be tested on the contents of the bills they consider. If you can’t pass the test without any help from a staff member, you don’t vote on that bill. Fail a certain number of those tests and you’re sent back to your home state.
Word camouflage – does anyone have the courage to run a campaign against it?