When I started to write this post, I was thinking about the little guy in the picture above. One of my favorite Saturday morning "Schoolhouse Rock" shows. It was a simplistic song that suggests if someone has an idea, someone says "hey! there ought to be a law!" It can happen.
I still find myself singing this song - "Oh, I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill . . ." I know. I'm a little weird.
What got me thinking about the little bill above and about a big idea currently unfolding all around us is that our laws - the bill that, in an idealistic world gone by, would have been easy to write, easy to enforce, easy to understand - have become anything but. The practical effect of the way laws are being written today is that every one of us is being disenfranchised. It is behind Brexit in Great Britain. It is behind Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in the US.
OK, I know. Disenfranchisement is a word that we don't really use. Sounds like one of those old-fashioned, Declaration of Independence words. It's actually very important for us to know and appreciate.
Disenfranchised:
The adjective disenfranchised describes a person or group of people who are stripped of their power, like disenfranchised post-Civil War African Americans who were deprived of their right to vote even after being freed from slavery.
Being disenfranchised is no fun. The rules work against you, your rights are constantly violated, and you have little power to change your life for the better. The Old French word enfranchir means “to make free,” and when you add the negative prefix dis-,disenfranchised means “made unfree.” A disenfranchised population doesn't rest easy, and often they organize and fight back against their condition to demand their basic rights and freedom.
Disenfranchisement is happening to all of us at a very fast pace and we don't even know it. I believe we sense that something beyond our control is happening in our city, state and federal governments but, unless we read every piece of legislation (which we know even our elected officials do not do) a normal person cannot keep up - we violate a law at almost every turn.
Just a few months ago, Oklahoma City announced it was making a "primary law" or a law for which a person can be stopped for specifically, if a driver fails to signal for 100 feet before changing lanes. Police said it "would add another layer of protection." That's ridiculous. The fine for this offense is $172. How would an innocent driver ever prove that they did signal for 100 feet? You would have to prove yourself innocent because the assumption of guilt is there with the police "eyewitness."
What it does add, is not a layer of protection, but a layer of disenfranchisement for everyone. Every time you drive you must do so in fear of not signalling for 100 feet - but the list of reasons for which you can be pulled over (or not rest easy) is myriad. Our governments, at all levels, keep stacking on more and more reasons for us to be fined, harassed, stopped, forced to explain our very presence somewhere. The latest example is that of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol engaging card readers in their patrol cars to "examine" gift cards, credit cards, money cards - with the, for now, theoretical ability to drain those cards and put the money into the state's bank accounts. They say it isn't happening but the reality is it just isn't happening now.
We lose our independence to make decisions which are best for ourselves and our families in situations like this. We end up as "law-breakers" without ever knowing it because laws are so convoluted, so misunderstood or unintended that normal people really don't know how to stay legal.
So, around the world, we see regular people fighting back against the rule makers. The people who clearly live in a double standard world where the law means one thing for those who make it and enforce it and something very different and ominous for those who must live under it.
We are all becoming disenfranchised because we can't know the implications of the laws that are enacted. Not even the authors know what is being proposed. Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives said it best: We have to pass the bill to find out what is in the bill - speaking of the monstrous ObamaCare bill. The bill that no one still understands, few like and is becoming more unsupportable by the day. Yet, violate a provision and the IRS is on your back and in your bank account.
Simplicity in our laws brings all of us into an opportunity of compliance, safety and agreement that these are laws which protect us and make our lives better. Complexity, of the kind we are seeing now at every level of government, only brings uncertainty, division and disenfranchisement of the worst kind. It used to so simple.
For those who remember the School House Rock Song - here you go!
Lyrics to I'm Just a Bill :
Boy: Woof! You sure got to 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?
Bill: 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 someday
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 he said, "You're right, there ought to 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. Oh, but it looks like I'm going to 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 I 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!
Bill: 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 someday
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 he said, "You're right, there ought to 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. Oh, but it looks like I'm going to 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 I 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!
Boy: Woof! You sure got to 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?
Bill: 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 someday
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 he said, "You're right, there ought to 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. Oh, but it looks like I'm going to 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 I 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!
Bill: 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 someday
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 he said, "You're right, there ought to 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. Oh, but it looks like I'm going to 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 I 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!
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