Good bills and Bad bills

I know I took a class where they talked about the process of a bill becoming a law. I also learned how all the stuff that gets attached to bills and laws as fat cat legislators bring pork back to their constituents and, in some cases, line their own pockets. I guess the process works, but it's the proverbial sausage factory.

I recently learned that the Farm Bill contains a whole bunch of good conservation stuff. While it's good stuff, it's wholly unrelated to the actual purpose of the Farm Bill -- agriculture policy (code words for agriculture subsidies). I guess we should take the good stuff where we can find it, even if that's between the corn and the wheat. By the way, given the tight times, conservation provisions in the Farm Bill are on the chopping block. Adding your voice to support those provisions would be helpful.

There's other stuff packed into laws that makes no sense either but in a more evil way. For example, the Sportsmen's* Heritage Act of 2012 is about ensuring that public lands stay open to hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, right?

Well, sort of.

At it's heart is does just that. But that's not why this bill is important.

The reason this bill is important is because it's important to the Energy Industry. One of the key provisions of the bill is opening up roadless areas to sportsmenpersons and their wheeled vehicles. But the language also opens the door for wheeled vehicles with drilling rigs on them as well. The Sportsmenperson has become the patsy of the Energy Industry.

This really isn't about sportsmen. It's about natural gas and oil producers.

You should probably write your legislator about that one too.






* Obviously written by rich, white guys wearing suits, sitting in a city. Don't they read the blogs of all the woman anglers and huntresses (I couldn't resist)