March 17th, 2013
Truth in Lawmaking
Despite bi-partisan dissatisfaction, the President signed the new Truth in Lawmaking Act in a poppy garden ceremony yesterday. The new law will require that legislators and other government officials be completely honest in development and communication of new laws, budgets, and other mischievious political dealings. As expected, both parties issued scathing rebuttals, with threats that the Act could unravel the very framework of the legislative body.
The law had been initiated after a nationwide referendum. 87% of the public favored a truth in lawmaking rule; the other 13% turned out to be government employees.
The law will no longer allow congress to call a reduction in the amount of funding increase a “cut”. A cut will have to be a cut, which is defined in the Act as an actual reduction versus current spending. A “sizeable cut” will require a 15% real reduction or more. A “huge cut” will require a 30% hacking. A reduction in the amount of increase will hereafter be called a “smaller increase”.
Politicians will be forced to quit claiming job losses or job gains from sequesters or any other program. A recent Bizarreville University study determined that all such claims suggesting there is a relationship between numbers of jobs and political actions of one type or other are “meritless poppycock”. The study left open the possibility that there could, in the future, conceivably be a specific directed government program aimed at truly incentivizing an industry to build new manufacturing plants and create real, long-lasting jobs…but doubted it would ever happen, since it has never happened before.
The President pointed out that he has always supported the whole notion of truth and honesty. An Aide had to pull him aside mid-speech, and tell him that he could no longer get away with that kind of comment any more.
States and local legislatures would be forced to comply with the new law, as well. The concept of a temporary one-cent sales tax, used in the past purportedly to help build new schools and hire better teachers, but really used to line the pockets of cronies with ill-conceived new sidewalk programs, would be specifically prohibited. The new Act states that any local lawmaker even suggesting such a program would be immediately impeached and forced to do 120 days of dog park cleanup duty.
The new law even extends to rogue Homeowner Association Boards who recklessly implement increases in annual dues, based on lies and deceptions. Many such Boards were discovered to have hired inept association managers who were almost as bad as congresspeople in their lack of financial prudence, cost discipline, transparency, and character traits. Some were found trying to jam through increases with fictional accounts of problems in order to fund their swelling budgets. One manager, who was discovered trashing perfectly good flowers at the entrance gate in order to change-up the color scheme, threatened to leave the association and run for congress if any action was taken against her.
A spokesman for the Liberals decried the new law, stating that it infringed on the legislature’s “inalienable right” to massage facts, contort reality, and hide the fine print…so important to the lawmaking process. He said that it would throw 200 years of history in the legislative commode, a commode that is already stopped-up with some big ones.
A Conservative spokesman said, “Ditto”.
A respresentative of the Homeowner Association Managers Union said they plan to continue to bend the truth regardless of the new law. They claim that they are an independent governing body protected from intrusive federal regulation. A network pundit, former judge, just laughed and said, “See you knuckleheads in Court.”
Disclaimer: all stories in Bizarreville are fiction, in spite on any obvious similarities.