Short and very, very sweet...

"Brilliant? Not so much. We have made a mucking fess out of the way we do bills today. They are big piles of gobblety gook nobody understands..."

I have to admit. I chuckle the way bills are proposed today. How they are turned into laws. A bill is proposed in a committee, tweaked a bit to get it through committee, and then may go in front of the entire body for a vote. What happens next is nothing short of a travesty. Before the bill comes up for consideration in front of the body, many bills go through the gauntlet (and the grinder) of lobbyists, interns, special interests and so on. Then of course, once it gets debated in front of the body, addendums proposed and sometimes added. Some addendums or amendments may have NOTHING to do with the premise of the bill. The bill, once finally ready to be signed into law, often looks like the unabridged version of War and Peace.

I like many of the citizens of this country, like documents which are short and sweet. Documents which speak volumes of wisdom, using very few words. Our Founding Fathers exhibited the ability to say much, very much with very few words. When it became obvious the Articles of Confederation were not working for us, James Madison and others knew there was a better way. A document crafted correctly could and would describe a "more perfect union" of the states.

Then in September of 1787, after discussing, arguing, negotiating in Philadelphia during the heat of the summer months, an amazing document was crafted and signed. Only four pages long (including 39 signatures), and containing 4,543 words, this very simple document spelled out a framework for liberty like the world had never seen. When you add in some very basic simple and basic amendments (the first 10 amendments in our Bill of Rights), the document just got better - again, using very few words. Our freedoms from natural rights coming from directly from God are defined, as well as how power will be reserved to the individuals and states. The central government, the federal government, will only be given certain powers as the states and individuals deem necessary and important.

Compare and contrast our latest snafu to be signed into law - ObamaCare. This bill which became law, which few have read, and almost nobody understands, is 2,700 pages long. Our Constitution (with signatures) is 4 pages. Thus ObamaCare is 675 times longer than our Constitution. Plus, to add insult to injury, there are 20,000 pages of regulatory addendums added. This law is the opposite of "short and sweet".

Some have suggested we need a new Constitution. A different Bill of Rights. Like free breakfast in schools might be a right. A house might be a right. An "Obama Phone". Or free health care. My feeling is simply this. Nothing is broken in our Constitution. Nothing is broken in our Bill of Rights. Nothing. These short and very sweet documents define a "more perfect union" better than anyone could ever do again. Period.

What I expect out of any of our Congressional representatives is simply this - be smart and wise. Use thinking similar to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, or many of our other Founders. Be wise and not political. Say much with little. Do no harm to "our more perfect union". That is what I expect. We must live and govern by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. That is how I feel. Short, sweet, and simple as that.