Rider (legislation) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider_(legislation)

A faint-inducing $825 BILLION stimulus package is being prepped in the US. This got me thinking about what, in my view, is the single most ridiculous facet of American politics: The legislative rider.

Used to great effect to balloon the earlier banking bailout, these insidious, parasitical, pork barrel projects are practically non-existent in Canadian politics. I can’t understand why they are not only accepted, but prevalent in the US. Nor do I understand why, in all my years of studying middle-period American history, I’ve never come across mentions of important bills failing due to lack of pork. When did this lamentable system become enshrined?

The use of riders is prevalent and customary in the Congress of the United States, as there are no legal or other limitations on their use.

Riders are most effective when attached to an important bill, such as an appropriation bill, because to veto or postpone such a bill could delay funding to governmental programs, causing serious problems.

When the veto is an all-or-nothing power as it is in the United States Constitution, the executive must either accept the riders or reject the entire bill.

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