Show Us The Bill is an informal, non-partisan group of Missourians interested in holding our legislators accountable for their actions. Average citizens watched the stimulus bill pass with little debate and without legislators getting the chance to actually read what they were voting for. The recent cap-and-trade bill passed with the same lack of care to what actually went into the bill. #00 pages were inserted at 3:00 a.m., and no one in Congress and none of their staffs could be bothered to read it before voting.
We are not an organized group, but we're also not paid political operatives. Anyone can join, and all volunteer efforts are welcome.
Further reports revealed an awful truth - our elected representatives read very little of the legislation they vote on. They don't have their staff read the legislation they vote on. Quite simply, our Congressional representatives don't see the need and don't make the time for anyone but the authors to actually look at what they vote on.
No one in their right mind would sign a mortgage contract, buy a car, or sign a will without reading what is involved. No business could survive if it didn't check the fine print. Is that too much to ask of our elected leaders? They have paid staff in the dozens who work in numerous offices. Surely someone can find time to read the bills.
President Obama came to office with a pledge of transparency. He promised to post important bills up on a website five days before he signed them. That pledge has been broken over and over, and it's one that he, and all legislators should be held accountable for.
We believe strongly in the rule of law. Laws are rules, and without a clear understanding of the rules, commerce and justice and the general welfare are at risk. It is impossible for any republic to endure when the laws placed upon us by our elected officials are created in the dead of light and voted on without serious debate.
We seek to hold our legislators accountable. We're working on a pledge we'll ask lawmakers to sign, but the immediate future will include focusing on healthcare and cap-and-trade legislation that impacts huge areas of our life, and yet are not fully understood.
Will you join us? Contact your representatives and tell them "Show Us The Bill," then demand in matters of important legislation (anything spending over $10 billion), representatives pledge to verify they either read the legislation themselves, or had their staff do it, prior to a vote.
We don't think that's too much to ask. If they want to stay in office.
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