Gee...the op mentioned the vote in the house. This is not the end of the process and is far from the final word on the subject.

I look forward to the republicans coming out with their happy a$$ spin on this when the bill emerges in it's final form almost as much as I look forward to reading some posters comment on the final bill and the republican spin.

Gee...the op mentioned the vote in the house. This is not the end of the process and is far from the final word on the subject.

I look forward to the republicans coming out with their happy a$$ spin on this when the bill emerges in it's final form almost as much as I look forward to reading some posters comment on the final bill and the republican spin.


If you are acquainted with the mechanism for making law you will know that of course. However for those of you who do not know there's some useful info below.

I highly recommend Project Vote Smart to all posters here. Especially those that seem to have a less than firm grasp on the workings of government. Isn't civics a required course anymore?


A.


Legislation is Introduced - Any member can introduce a piece of legislation

House - Legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper.

Senate - Members must gain recognition of the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day.

* The bill is assigned a number. (e.g. HR 1 or S 1)
* The bill is labeled with the sponsor's name.
* The bill is sent to the Government Printing Office (GPO) and copies are made.
* Senate bills can be jointly sponsored.
* Members can cosponsor the piece of Legislation.

B.


Committee Action - The bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to more than one committee and it may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees. Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Bills in the House can only be released from committee without a proper committee vote by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership (218 members).

Committee Steps:

1. Comments about the bill's merit are requested by government agencies.
2. Bill can be assigned to subcommittee by Chairman.
3. Hearings may be held.
4. Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee.
5. Finally there is a vote by the full committee - the bill is "ordered to be reported."
6. A committee will hold a "mark-up" session during which it will make revisions and additions. If substantial amendments are made, the committee can order the introduction of a "clean bill" which will include the proposed amendments. This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded. The chamber must approve, change or reject all committee amendments before conducting a final passage vote.
7. After the bill is reported, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill sometimes write a dissenting opinion in the report. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.
8. In the House, most bills go to the Rules committee before reaching the floor. The committee adopts rules that will govern the procedures under which the bill will be considered by the House. A "closed rule" sets strict time limits on debate and forbids the introduction of amendments. These rules can have a major impact on whether the bill passes. The rules committee can be bypassed in three ways: 1) members can move rules to be suspended (requires 2/3 vote)2) a discharge petition can be filed 3) the House can use a Calendar Wednesday procedure.

C.


Floor Action

1. Legislation is placed on the Calendar

House: Bills are placed on one of four House Calendars. They are usually placed on the calendars in the order of which they are reported yet they don't usually come to floor in this order - some bills never reach the floor at all. The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader decide what will reach the floor and when. (Legislation can also be brought to the floor by a discharge petition.)

Senate: Legislation is placed on the Legislative Calendar. There is also an Executive calendar to deal with treaties and nominations. Scheduling of legislation is the job of the Majority Leader. Bills can be brought to the floor whenever a majority of the Senate chooses.

2. Debate

House: Debate is limited by the rules formulated in the Rules Committee. The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill but cannot technically pass it. Debate is guided by the Sponsoring Committee and time is divided equally between proponents and opponents. The Committee decides how much time to allot to each person. Amendments must be germane to the subject of a bill - no riders are allowed. The bill is reported back to the House (to itself) and is voted on. A quorum call is a vote to make sure that there are enough members present (218) to have a final vote. If there is not a quorum, the House will adjourn or will send the Sergeant at Arms out to round up missing members.

Senate: debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments need not be germane - riders are often offered. Entire bills can therefore be offered as amendments to other bills. Unless cloture is invoked, Senators can use a filibuster to defeat a measure by "talking it to death."

3. Vote - the bill is voted on. If passed, it is then sent to the other chamber unless that chamber already has a similar measure under consideration. If either chamber does not pass the bill then it dies. If the House and Senate pass the same bill then it is sent to the President. If the House and Senate pass different bills they are sent to Conference Committee. Most major legislation goes to a Conference Committee.

D.


Conference Committee

1. Members from each house form a conference committee and meet to work out the differences. The committee is usually made up of senior members who are appointed by the presiding officers of the committee that originally dealt with the bill. The representatives from each house work to maintain their version of the bill.
2. If the Conference Committee reaches a compromise, it prepares a written conference report, which is submitted to each chamber.
3. The conference report must be approved by both the House and the Senate.

E.


The President - the bill is sent to the President for review.

1. A bill becomes law if signed by the President or if not signed within 10 days and Congress is in session.
2. If Congress adjourns before the 10 days and the President has not signed the bill then it does not become law ("Pocket Veto.")
3. If the President vetoes the bill it is sent back to Congress with a note listing his/her reasons. The chamber that originated the legislation can attempt to override the veto by a vote of two-thirds of those present. If the veto of the bill is overridden in both chambers then it becomes law.

F.


The Bill Becomes A Law - once a bill is signed by the President or his veto is overridden by both houses it becomes a law and is assigned an official number.

http://www.votesmart.org/resource_govt101_02.php

They're backed into a corner financially, but the smart ones are still speaking out.

The most outspoken critic has been South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who has warned for months of a steep spike in inflation and a severely weakened dollar if Obama's plan passed. His state is on track to receive $2.1 billion of the stimulus money; Sanford has not yet said whether he would accept it.

"It's incumbent on me as one of the nation's governors to speak out against what I believe is ultimately incredibly harmful to the economy, to taxpayers and to the worth of the U.S. dollar," Sanford said in an interview. "This plan is a huge mistake and is going to prolong and deepen this recession."

And he's right. Put flowers on the plan all you like, the ultimate result is going to be a further loss of jobs, businesses moving overseas while this 10 yr. plan sinks the economy even further. Green trucks that are sitting in the parking lot because businesses either had to shut their doors or move overseas while they were being built is not a wise way to spend money.

I'm not against trying to use less oil, I actually favor it, but the amounts in this bill, plus all they want to spend on the other non-stimulus crap is appalling. Here is is again.

* $600 Million To Buy New Cars For Government Workers\. These cars would be "green" friendly cars - however very few gas pumps have the right gas to run these cars. The Federal government already spends $3.5 billion a year. This could be lessened and done gradually given our current economic crises. money could be spent elsewhere or not at all until we get back on our feet.

* $10M for bike and walking trails (non-stimulus)

* $200M for plug-in car stations

* $400 million for NASA scientists to conduct climate change research (non-stimulus)

* $800 million to clean up Superfund (non-stimulus..a redistribution to make books look cleaner)

* $600 million for grants for diesel emission reduction (non-stimulus)

* $650 million for "alternative energy technologies, energy efficiency enhancements and deferred maintenance at Federal facilities" (10 yr. stimulus, could be reduced again, given current money problems)

* $1.5 billion for construction of "Green Schools" (non-stimulus)


* $2.7B in NIH grants which would be targeted to among other things embryonic stem cell experimentation. (non-stimulus)


* $75 million for smoking cessation This contradicts the latest version of SCHIP that is funded largely by new taxes on cigarettes. (non-stimulus)

* $4.19 billion open to ACORN. The Pelosi-Reid bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for "neighborhood stabilization activities." (non-stimulus)

* $54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government Accountability Office have already criticized as "ineffective" or unable to pass basic financial audits. (a complete waste of money)

* $462 Million for Equipment, Construction, and Renovation of Facilities at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (non-stimulus)

* $150 Million for Repairs to Smithsonian Institution Facilities (non-stimulus)

* $44 million to the Agricultural Research Service (non-stimulus)

* $227 million for oversight of the pork barrel spending in the stimulus (for oversight alone!! to study the mating habits of the bear in Montana, wow)

* $1 Billion for The Follow-Up To The 2010 Census (non-stimulus)

How can anyone call this a stimulus package? There are only two things on the list that could create a substantial amt. of jobs, and they would take 10 yrs. to be fully effective in their plans..

So can one of you brilliant lefty's explain to me how you give the lower income people a tax cut when they don't pay income tax now??

That's only $67.608 Billion.

Where's the other $733 billion?
Didnt you want to show it all?

Everyone pays FICA. That's a tax. Its called the Social Security Income Tax. It is the only agency in the US Gov that consistently shows a gain year after year.

The problem is that the extra is siphoned off to support other programs.
Therefore if these peoples retirement security is used as a general tax why dont they deserve a little back?

I have something to say about these Republicans, who say "NO".

Where have they been when Bush was in power?
How come they approve multi-billion stimulus?
Bush even said "fucck the free markets".


This showed me how financially conservative these suckers really are.

Now that they are out of power, they play financial conservatives?

That money actually went to Americans, not programs that could build up the size of the government--except in the case of defense. And Bush's expenditures during ALL 8 YEARS (approx. 79 Billion each year of his presidency = 632 Billion total) didn't add up to this ONE BILL in Obama's FIRST MONTH of running the White House.

I could say that I am equally appalled that the Democrats who were sooo blown away at the spending by Bush can't do the math and keep their own party in check. Compared to Obama, Bush was a saint at spending. Again:

Bush (8 yrs.) = 632 Billion in spending measures/but charts show over 8 yrs. total government spending increased by about $2 Trillion...probably a lot of it due merely to inflation each year.

Obama (1 month) = 800 + Billion in one spending measure...that's almost $1 Trillion in one month alone

I happen to think, that Obama's 800+ bln mistake is easier to explain, as he is in the middle of the crisis. On the same note, Bush had inherited a "perfect" economy, which he killed, first by creating 911, then by invading Iraq, and finally by concentrating on economy, housing and finance.

Both are bad. But so far, Bush is the absolute worst.

Bush created 9/11? I think you misspoke.

And the economy was set to fail in 2000 anyway..

The inflated tech stocks had to be deflated..that had nothing to do with Bush. It's called normalization. 9/11 and Afghanistan on top of tech stock declines is what in total brought the economy down--but would you have told the families of those 2000 people that we were just going to sit back since stocks didn't look good? I'd like an answer to this question.

The war cost money, yes. I still think that's something people are entitled to having their own opinion on, but I agreed with it, and still do. Tyrants left to grow in insanity and power are nothing more than a threat to the whole world. But that's just my opinion. Obviously, by looking at the votes, it was a major consensus, a democratic one might I add, that led us into war--voted on by democrats and republicans alike.

Democrats ruled the roost when the subject of housing market restrictions came up..that's a matter for Congress..then the President signs. Very rarely will you see a President of any party go around Congress to start something like that. But, yes, I think he could have done something on his own to put the restrictions out there..only problem is, then he becomes an enemy of the poor and made out to be the villian who is keeping poor Americans from home ownership.

Obama's spending is wasteful. There is very little in that spending measure that is actually beneficial. I would love to see you pick out the spending measures from the lists in this thread that you think are a wise choice for our tax dollars and let me know what your opinion is. Please, list them and tell me why they're good for the economy.

I really have to wonder where bush supporters were these past 8 years, they must have heard only what they wanted to hear. It's amazing what they seem to have missed. Must be a magic trick...

I really have to wonder where bush supporters were these past 8 years, they must have heard only what they wanted to hear. It's amazing what they seem to have missed. Must be a magic trick...