Can someone out there help me? I think my approach towards politics and policy is all wrong. For some reason, I find it important to research an issue before I talk about it. If you want to reflect back to my post on the Health Care Reform discussion I had back in March, I said:
Now I do admit there are times where I will comment on a piece of legislation before fully reading the text, something that even our elected officials are guilty of. My excuse, if you want to call it that, is that I do have a full-time job which leaves me with very little time to dive into bills that are sometimes over 2,000 pages. However, I will research a topic before posting about it to make sure that my arguments are founded on fact … especially when the topic is very emotional.
So, when I wrote my article about the Arizona Immigration Law when it was passed, I spent a few minutes to read the bill before questioning if it would survive a legal challenge. I even provided a link to bill SB1070 so you could read it for yourself. Well, it seems that the Attorney General and the Homeland Security Secretary are not reading the U.S. Common Sense blog, let alone the recently passed Arizona bill.
During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Eric Holder was asked by Representative Ted Poe:
And I understand that you may file a lawsuit against the law. It seems to me the administration ought to be enforcing border security and immigration laws and not challenge them and that the administration is on the wrong side of the American people. Have you read the Arizona law?
To which Holder replied:
I have not had a chance to — I’ve glanced at it. I have not read it.
Haven’t had a chance? Seriously? I had a chance to read it, and it has nothing to do with my job. But he is in good company, since Janet Napolitano has not read it yet either. During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Senator John McCain asked:
Have you had a chance to review the new law that was passed by the state of Arizona?
To which Napolitano replied:
I have not reviewed it in detail, I certainly know of it, senator. … I believe it’s a bad law enforcement law.
She hasn’t read the law, but knows it is a bad law?
Come on folks. As citizens of this great nation, you need to be aware of the laws that are passed that impact this country. In addition, you should demand that your politicians know and understand the material they are debating and voting on, especially since they are your representatives to our nation. There is no excuse that these two individuals, who knew that they would have to (or already have) comment on the bill, to spend the few quick minutes to read it. And if they didn’t think that they would be asked questions about it, then I seriously have to question their competence in their assigned positions. We deserve better.