Reading? Nah!

I've been keeping tabs somewhat on this recent debacle about the Istook amendment and the subsequent back tracking and finger pointing. And while I think that the amendment itself is pretty scary, I'm more scared by the emerging evidence over time that our representatives and Senators don't actually read what they are voting on. I'm not blaming them. They sometimes have only hours to read thousands of pages of legislation and are then expected to make informed votes. It seems to me that this situation is the explanation of the larger evil of partisan politics. When you don't have time to actually read the legislation, the best possible way to make an informed vote is to look to someone with similar politics and see how they are voting. Well, Senator Republican is voting yea, I'm a Republican, so I will vote yea. And by no means is this only a Republican problem. BUT WHAT IS IN THE LEGISLATION?? Pork. Thats right, you love it. Who doesn't love some pork. Is that why all these 'bills' are so long and tedious as to preclude actual examination? That an amendment such as the Istook amendment, as ridiculous as it is, could get through without actually being seen...by anyone, is a scary thought. We need to simplify this process to give our representatives a chance to do their jobs (I say in a moment of unfettered optimism). What is this democracy, this republic, if our own representatives don't know what they are voting on? Who does know? The only people who could...the self-serving interested parties who wrote it. And I say this with all the love in my heart for my country...we are exporting this democracy abroad? Lets fix our own. Lets get our own healthy and working and alive with debate and interest in the greater good of our country.