The Respect for Marriage Act...

…and other government fairytales

It seems a more and more frequent occurrence that the names of bills moving through Congress run counter to the actual effect of the bill. For example, on November 16th, the Senate voted on H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act. Until learning on November 14th that the vote was pending, I had not been following this particular bill, nor (to my own shame) was I really aware of what was in it. Perhaps the most pertinent piece is the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which affirmed the traditional definition of marriage, added this denotation to the US legal code, and left to the States how such unions would be treated. DOMA actually showed respect for marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act, on the other hand, seeks to overturn the definition of marriage and to force each state to treat all unions the same. This is not respecting marriage - it is explicitly disrespecting an institution that God established almost immediately after creating the first man and woman.

The Inflation Reduction Act is another oxymoronically named bill. Rather than reduce inflation, this act levies new taxes on certain corporations (expect these costs to be passed on to consumers), makes several provisions for renegotiation and coverage of particular (single source) medications, and subsidies and regulations for green energy solutions. If you suffer from insomnia, the text of this bill is the perfect sleeping pill - it’s long, has a ton of external references, and contains nothing that lives up to the title. If anything, the provisions of this bill stand to increase prices for consumer goods and services. I have to believe that the authors of this monstrosity realized that when they dubbed it as such, and only did so to make it more palatable to the general public, the vast majority of whom will never see any text but the appellation.

Another fairly recent bill bearing a title that diverges from reality was the American Rescue Plan Act. Here we have another snooze-fest of an act. It takes more time to get through the introduction of titles for the sections included in the act than getting through the line at the local DMV to renew your driver’s license (perhaps that would be the perfect place and time to read it). Just looking through the titles one is left to wonder from what it is intended to save America. Is it from Covid? From the economic disaster wrought by Covid countermeasures? Or perhaps from the Constitution? Aside from some overtly racist (yeah, I used the “r” word - it actually fits the definition here) policies, this bill mainly benefits government entities and corporations. After all, from what, exactly, should we expect an appropriation of $135,000,000 for the National Endowment for the Arts to save us? Are we suffering an oil paint famine? Is there a major strike of plant workers for making charcoal pencils? I suppose the $200,000,000 allocated for the Institute of Museum and Library Services could help save the Constitution, if people were by this “Institute” educated in our founding documents.

As a bonus track, I thought it would be fun to again consider the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and all it has done to help make healthcare more accessible. After all, so many are still benefiting from this bill. How many have had their healthcare costs and insurance premiums lowered by this pivotal piece of legislation? It was so successful, that it even garnered honorable mention in both the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. These acts create further subsidies for the ACA. This bill, the contents of which had to be passed before we could learn what’s in it (remember Pelosi’s ludicrous remark?), is the gift that just keeps on giving!

So what’s my point? Congress keeps putting together legislation that has no chance of accomplishing what the title implies. I can only imagine that these mythical monikers are assigned to placate the proles while the elites eviscerate the Constitution, rob us of our rights, and continue to loot us so they can spend like a drunken submarine crew on shore leave after six months at sea. The moral of the story is, never trust what they say openly - read the fine print. Chances are, the text of the bill will reveal far more nefarious underpinnings than the label suggests.