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they can sustain a Bush veto of anything the Democrats do.

You need to review your Schoolhouse Rock.

If the Democratic majority in either house of Congress says "We're not passing a spending bill until you straighten up and fly right", there is nothing for Bush to veto.

Democratic leaders in Congress could end the war in Iraq immediately if the had the gonads to do so.

THe judicial branch as this time is a neutral 3rd party.

Ding! Or at least, as close to one as can be found in the current circus, and an obvious choice to settle a dispute between the Legislative and the Executive. Of course, presumably if both Congress and the Justice Department come to a sensible^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H acceptable^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H sane^H^H^H^H compromise that doesn't make everyone grab for their guns, the Judiciary would hand over whatever is asked for at the mutual request... and sit on it in the meanwhile until the question gets determined one way or another. (Or until Congress gets fed up enough to start impeaching judges, which is far less likely over this than impeaching AGs.)

And the Telcos get to say "We gave at the office, go 'way!" and continue to make their ill-gotten gains in peace and quiet.

And this is why we should put Civics class back into schools... He didn't kill a law because it wasn't a law yet - it was just a bill.

I imagine the taxes are for things like SkypeIn and SkypeOut where people are placing calls and generating revenue for Skype, not for Ventrilo. It's easy to track what you pay Skype, no matter whether you use their software or an OSS clone of it.

Besides, the summary title really should say "would" rather than "will". A bill being approved by a committee may never come to a vote by the full House if the Speaker doesn't like it. It may not pass that vote if it gets it. It may fail to be approved by the Senate, or their version may take out the amendment. The two houses of Congress must approve the same version of the bill for it to go to the President for signing. If they can't agree on the exclusions, they'll probably still agree to extend the tax moratorium. How long to extend it for is probably a hot topic for debate anyway, so look for that to change. Then, if the FCC, the White House staff and the President decide that the bill doesn't look good, the President can veto it. In order to override a veto two-thirds (66%) of both houses must vote to override the veto after it has already taken place. It can be more difficult to get votes for a veto override than the bill originally received, although that's not necessarily the case.

In short, a bill won't make any changes at all as a bill. It only would if it becomes a law. The Clerk of the House has a nice gentle intro on how bills become laws, and for anyone who hasn't seen or heard the School House Rock clip (or who hasn't for 20 years and doesn't remember it), there's a lyrics page and wave file for "I'm Just a Bill", and someone stuck the video clip (with low audio volume) on YouTube. It's all part of the Three-Ring Government, after all.

I imagine the taxes are for things like SkypeIn and SkypeOut where people are placing calls and generating revenue for Skype, not for Ventrilo. It's easy to track what you pay Skype, no matter whether you use their software or an OSS clone of it.

Besides, the summary title really should say "would" rather than "will". A bill being approved by a committee may never come to a vote by the full House if the Speaker doesn't like it. It may not pass that vote if it gets it. It may fail to be approved by the Senate, or their version may take out the amendment. The two houses of Congress must approve the same version of the bill for it to go to the President for signing. If they can't agree on the exclusions, they'll probably still agree to extend the tax moratorium. How long to extend it for is probably a hot topic for debate anyway, so look for that to change. Then, if the FCC, the White House staff and the President decide that the bill doesn't look good, the President can veto it. In order to override a veto two-thirds (66%) of both houses must vote to override the veto after it has already taken place. It can be more difficult to get votes for a veto override than the bill originally received, although that's not necessarily the case.

In short, a bill won't make any changes at all as a bill. It only would if it becomes a law. The Clerk of the House has a nice gentle intro on how bills become laws, and for anyone who hasn't seen or heard the School House Rock clip (or who hasn't for 20 years and doesn't remember it), there's a lyrics page and wave file for "I'm Just a Bill", and someone stuck the video clip (with low audio volume) on YouTube. It's all part of the Three-Ring Government, after all.

Interplanet Janet, she's a galaxy girl,
A solar system Ms. from a future world,
She travels like a rocket with her comet team
And there's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen,
There's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen.

Argh. Now I will have that song stuck in my head all day long. Of course now that Pluto has been demoted, they will need to revise the verse that says:

Mars is red and Jupiter's big
And Saturn shows off its rings.
Uranus is built on a funny tilt
And Neptune is its twin,
And Pluto, little Pluto is the farthest planet from our sun.

If you're feeling nostalgic, the complete lyrics and a .wav clip are on this web site.

You mean an America Rock?

Learn to use URL tags, http://www.school-house-rock.com/elec.wav A simple one post tutorial by the guy who just screwed it up!

I think this song (http://www.school-house-rock.com/Softw.html) is responsible for destroying some kids' future ability to program.

Am I the only one who thought I was having a flashback to the old Saturday Morning cartoon lessons?
http://www.school-house-rock.com/Bill.html

This varies widely by the school district. My senior year in high school required a course in American Government. Since previous courses had outlined the general Three Ring Circus pretty well, the non-AP course spent half a year studying local government: to wit, the school district budget process and school board elections. Students had to sign up to attend at least three board meetings, and give in class presentations before and after about the budget sections scheduled for discussion at the meeting. Beforehand presentations had to have at least one question from each student about the material that might be suitable for asking the board for in class-discussion; whether we asked such at the meeting was up to the individual student-- some did, some didn't. After presentatations summed up the discussion, and any questions asked. It had the merits of getting the students and the parents more involved. It also woke up the school board when regular attendance went from an average of two (the assigned reporter from the paper and the town kook) to around twenty (some students actually got interested in the process, and attended almost all of the meetings). They got over their surprise, but initially were disconcerted when students from their schools showed up as the voters they answered to.

There was also a more colorful incident a few years earlier, when two weeks after a unit on the Unionization movement prior to WWII, my sister's class was given (by mistake) an impossible assignment. (Between the high school library, county library, state capital city library, library of the capital branch of the state college system, and the libraries of two other nationally recognized colleges within 30 miles, a total of thirty-one answers from seventy questions could be found.) The students responded by applying the previous lesson: they formed a union, elected representatives, showed up with red-white-and-blue picket signs, and refused to enter the classroom until an outside moderator-- the principal-- was called in to negotiate with the representatives. The students also called the city paper in advance, who sent a (snickering) reporter and photographer. The teacher refered to it as "a demonstrated major educational success in all directions"-- and was thoroughly delighted to see that the students had inarguably learned something. I think my sister still has the news clipping.

We were taught the system, not only how it worked and why it worked, but how the way checks and balances allow you to challenge and change the system if you have the determination to do so... and how to judge when it was worth the trouble. This is lamentably rarer than it ought to be. This may be in part because of parental preferences-- even most non-fundamentalist zealot parents find it easier in the short run to raise children as sheep rather than wolves.

Should you have kids, you may want to remember your own troubles with the schools, and choose to live in a district that does not aim to produce human sheep.

On the other hand, I'd say that you did exceed the network AUP for your school, and deserved to get a suspension-- although perhaps not the expulsion you evidently got.

If your concern was the freedom of speech, much more direct and legally irreproachable tactics would have been more effective. In your shoes, I would have tried to organize like minded students, found out what local permit requirements are for small public protests (usually none if under 10 people and without electronic amplification), and began staging public readings of careful selections from these overlooked/censored works. (If you can find appropriate related passages from Supreme Court case rulings or Presidential writings to add in the mix, it puts you on better tactical groun

It's more just a down-market riff on "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock.

Anyone remember "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock?

Basically, after the bill is signed into law, it becomes a public law and is printed as a "slip law" which can be cited in court. After every 2-year session of Congress, the slip laws are compiled in chronological order in the Statutes at Large. Every three sessions (six years), the at-large statutes are organized topically in the United States Code. The last US Code came out in 2000, so the next one is scheduled for 2006.

We just started the 109th session in January (2005 - 1789 = 216 years = 108 sessions prior to this one). That means that if you want to get print copies of laws passed in the 107th and 108th sessions (since 2000), you have to go to the Statutes at Large in your local law library. If you want laws passed by this Congress, you have to go to the slip laws. So far this session, there's only been one: Pub. L. 109-1, "To accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami."

Would someone please clarify the players in EU lawmaking, and their role in the process? America at least has floated cartoons making our quaint process clear to naive schoolchildren (of any age). Where do members of the following bodies come from: election by people per nation / across the EU; or sent as representatives of national governments; or selected by the EU government itself? Where do the laws/regulations/rules/treaties/agreements they produce come from: national governments; EU government subdivisions; independent citizens; overseas committees like the US; nongovernment foreign or European policy organizations? And where do the rules they produce go: to another body for decision, to national governments for ratification, or just into effect as law?

The players:
- EU Parliament
- EU Commission
- EU Council
- Any others (like, eg, some kind of "EU Parliament/Council Reconciliation Committe")?

I think you are mistaken about the exact meaning. If we're picking nits, first off "Et al" should be written "Et al." since it is an abbreviation for "Et Alia", just as "etc" is properly "etc." (short for "et cetera"). Second, while the usual usage is to denote "and other people", strictly speaking it is Latin for "and others" only; so, "alia" might also denote "other places" (or other things). So, while the use of it in the original context (or yes, most anywhere outside of a bibliography) marks the poster as likely a pompus or pretentious twit, strictly speaking the usage is grammatically and semantically correct.

(Mommy was an English and a Latin teacher; God, how high school sucked.)

I just ordered a copy of School House Rock for my kids...er ... me.
I am also looking at the multi purpose electronics kits and an erector set for my oldest daughter.
I can't seem to get enough of the older toys and neither can my kids. They are so tired of plastic.

I'm "for" better tasting beer, however, I have no clue how I am going to go about that anymore than how Kerry is going to go about implementing his policies.

Universal Healthcare is done by most other wealthy countries. In fact on of the biggest out of control healthcare expenses is the growing cost of administration, including increasing numbers of uninsured people who cannot pay thier bills and the costs of dealing with literally thousands of different plans and forms. Persciption Drugs prices suck because they prohibit the International free market from working. There are a number of reasons why our health care needs a major overhaul, but it will take a lot of guts to stand up and demand it.

I'm a machine, You're a Machine!
Everyone you know, you know they are machines...

Now I'm not going to get that Schoolhouse Rock song out of my head for the rest of the day.

Thanks for nothing!

3 is a crowd...

Huh? I thought 3 is a magic number.

(off topic yeah I know.. back to work for me)

Oh, elbow room, elbow room Got to, got to get us some elbow room. It's the moon or bust, in God we trust. There's a new land up there!
School House Rock

(which aren't really illegal anymore thanks to Bush)

Audio Version Available here from School-House-Rock.com

Please mod this up for nostalgia and educational value. You know you watched this as a kid. Represent for the Nintendo generation!

Boy: Whew! You sure gotta climb a lot of steps to get to this Capitol Building here in Washington. But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?

I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law some day
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage.
Bill: Well, I got this far. When I started I wasn't even a bill, I was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local Congressman, and said, "You're right, there oughta be a law." Then he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me to Congress. And I became a bill, and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law.

I'm just a bill
Yes I'm only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill.
Well, now I'm stuck in committee
And I'll sit here and wait
While a few key Congressmen discuss and debate
Whether they should let me be a law.
How I hope and pray that they will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: Listen to those Congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?
Bill: Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get this far. I hope they decide to report on me favorably, otherwise I may die.
Boy: Die?
Bill: Yeah, die in committee. Ooh, but it looks like I'm gonna live! Now I go to the House of Representatives, and they vote on me.
Boy: If they vote yes, what happens?
Bill: Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.
Boy: Oh no!
Bill: Oh yes!

I'm just a bill
Yes, I'm only a bill
And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill
Well, then I'm off to the White House
Where I'll wait in a line
With a lot of other bills
For the president to sign
And if he signs me, then I'll be a law.
How I hope and pray that he will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: You mean even if the Whole Congress says you
should be a law, the president can still say no?
Bill: Yes, that's called a veto. If the president vetoes me, I have to go back to Congress and they vote on me again, and by that time you're so old...
Boy: By that time it's very unlikely that you'll become a law. It's not easy to become a law, is it?
Bill: No!

But how I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Congressman: He signed you, Bill!
Now you're a law!
Bill: Oh yes!!!

Let's take a moment to pray for the creator of "School House Rock," Tom Yohe, who recently passed away due to cancer (December 21, 2000). He was truly a brilliant man, and his contribution to this generation's knowledge in many areas cannot be denied. I know he changed my life for the better.

Mr. Morgan made an interesting point about online communication with representatives, now that "wierd knick-knack gifts" could be misconstrued as bioweapons (especially the staple remover that's been in the drawer next to last month's tuna fish sandwich).

But I've always assumed that any value of online communication would be offset by the volume of 1337 mail -- mostly unintentional. "yOUr rite their otta bee a lAw!"

I'd like to see a tech-savvy representative adopt some form of Slashcode-based constituent feedback system. Articles could be the issues currently on the rep's plate, plus a "catchall" for general feedback. Let the (unpaid) interns do the moderation, and then the rep can read at +2 to +5 depending on workload.

I may make a run for office in the next few years, and I'd be glad to use a Slash-like system for public discussion of my positions. But I agree with Morgan -- a well-written one-page letter with a finite number of defensible points will be much more effective than a Unabomer-style manifesto.

Oh, really.