Sometimes "unintended" consequences aren't unintended

More incumbent protection laws from Congress:

The same sloppy legislative writing that created so many unintended consequences in ObamaCare also plagues the DISCLOSE Act, the effort in Congress to tighten spending rules in the wake of the Citizens United decision — and that’s the generous take on the situation. Reason’s Bradley Smith and Jeff Patch warn that the perhaps-unintended consequences of legislative language will allow the FEC to regulate political speech online. The fact that media entities like the New York Times have specific exemptions built into the bill makes the intent, or lack thereof, rather murky:

The bill is an attempt to regulate political speech. There’s nothing unintended about it. McCain-Feingold failed (finally) and now they’re trying it a different way. The writing isn’t sloppy, it never is. The bill does exactly what they mean it to.

That whole “We didn’t know that was in the bill” excuse is bullshit. SOMEONE knew or it wouldn’t be in there. The bills don’t write themselves. They are large and complex for a reason: To hide things until it’s too late.

This entry was posted in politics. Bookmark the permalink.