Copyright 2000 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
February 13, 2000 Sunday ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: CROSSROADS; Pg. 5J
LENGTH: 209 words
HEADLINE: We
need legislation that is responsible
BODY:
Two Feb.
3 articles under the heading "Washington Report" got my attention, the Senate
minimum wage bill and the bill on regulating bankruptcy. These
bills also included abortion language. It has long been a
practice to attach sometimes related and sometimes unrelated legislation to
bills on the Senate or House floors. This is done without regard to pertinency.
This practice needs to be modified, if not eliminated. In the past,
these attachments were used to hide the acquiring of financial bonanzas for the
representative's constituency. More often today, it is used to stop legislation
from becoming law by attaching measures that have no pertinency, thereby
assuring the defeat of said legislation.
What abortion
and minimum wages, let alone bankruptcy regulation, have to do
with each other, is beyond my comprehension.
It is time for our
representatives to consider each piece of legislation on its own merit. To those
who say some issues are too minuscule to be considered alone, I say, maybe there
are too many minuscule issues being considered in the first place.
What
we need are not more rules and regulations dictating how we live our lives, but
responsible legislation allowing us to do so.
Kenneth A. Matzat
Milwaukee
LOAD-DATE: May 18, 2000
