> why would having "furriners" commenting be a bad thing, if it helps shape a > good policy? > > (this is RFC, not writing the law, and not approving the law) > > Seems like good ideas from anywhere would be perfectly fine.
Not if those comments and ideas are from powers who's end goals are counterproductive to America. Not if those comments and ideas are from people who do not understand the history and personality of our populace. It is up to Americans to shape what we want. We have a government, "Of the people, by the people, for the people," but those people are the citizens of the US. "The World" is not our measuring stick, and to think that the comments of someone from the Netherlands on animal rights, Saudi Arabia on censorship, China on production levels or the UK on gun control might affect policy decisions makes my head spin! The other thing that I worry about with this kind of "portal" is what information about a bill is released. Are you going to log in and see, "On the President's Desk" and have a list of legislative titles that you then have to read through? Will a synopsis be provided? What about the cost associated? Areas of impact? What about the voting record for each one? All of this information would help voters decide. I actually somewhat like the idea of creating a Request For Comment tool for the public. Right now our only mechanism to address issues is via our elected representatives and senators... and there are many examples where they have ignored what people wanted. I believe we can look at the bailout as one of the most recent. Giving citizens a place to voice their opinions on a piece of legislature is a huge thing and helps to modernize our government. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:279864 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
