Post by Danihel Laurieir on Dec 16, 2004 20:54:32 GMT -6
To remind myself and everyone else, here's the policy I'm using to guide my Clark votes:
Until Talossa's legislature embraces the virtue of reviewing legislative proposals before they are voted on, I will vote "contra" on every bill that has not been made public before being submitted to the Clark.
What "made public" means to me is: not just a description of a proposal, but a draft of its actual text is circulated online or via some other means in such a way that every member of the legislature would have the opportunity to inspect the proposal before it appears on the Clark.
Just as the "Hopper" proposal [see earlier thread about "legislative reform" for more information about this] has a provision for this, I will allow myself to vote for urgently needed legislation without a comment period.
I will end my "contracott" (like boycott, get it?) when Talossa's legislature has either adopted formal procedures like those contained in the "Hopper" proposal or started a new informal tradition in which every new bill is circulated for comment before it is voted on.
Until then, I urge all my legislative colleagues to join me in this struggle to enhance Talossa's deliberative and legislative traditions.
My December Clark votes (official vote in CAPITALS)
RZ 14 -- SOS is No Longer Above the Law: CONTRA
(I couldn't find this language online earlier than than the Clark, so I must vote against it though I might well have voted for it had the language been published earlier.)
RZ 15 -- The Election Law Act: CONTRA
(Would probably have voted in favor, but alas...)
RZ 16 -- The Use of Talossan Names Act: PER
(Although I'm not sure this was the exact language that had been published earlier, it seems close enough to me...and although I might quibble with a provision or two, I did have the opportunity to so quibble and chose not to...I think the bill basically makes sense.)
RZ 17 -- Nomination of Marc Mosian to the Cort: PER
(As I allow in my rules stated above--and in my "Hopper" proposal--I can vote on urgent legislation without seeing language beforehand. I must also remember to build-in exceptions for appointments.)
RZ 18 -- The Offences Against Public Order Act: CONTRA
(Before I read this, I was sure I'd be against it...but I find myself thinking that small communities like ours shouldn't have to tolerate some kinds of behavior. I think drawing the line at threats of physical violence makes some sense. I would, however, like to see a lot more discussion of this...and it was not published in advance. Tsk tsk...Of all the bills on this Clark, this one should have gotten lots of advance work. Bad, very bad deliberative process on this one.)
