A meaningful debate in Congress? It doesn't happen very often. It could be because there is such an overwhelming amount of legislation that comes before them that it is difficult to seriously weigh the consequences of each and every piece. Often, the legislators rely almost exclusively on their aides to provide them with information that is deemed important to the legislator and his/her stated positions on various issues. Sometimes those aides are heavily influenced by lobbyists.
The legislation on climate change that is being debated at this time is an issue that has far-reaching consequences. It is a political "hot potato" that will have profound impact on the economy -- taxes, fuel prices, jobs, food prices, construction, cosmetics, medicines, electricity, and on and on.
Debate should be a good thing. An open, meaningful discussion of the merits and potential problems of a piece of legislation is something for which our system of government was designed. It rarely happens. Both proponents and opponents of the legislation should be interested in educating/enlightening their counterparts on the why's and where-for's of their position. That isn't what is happening. Instead, the proponents of the legislation want to quash meaningful discussion. They seem to prefer to wait until the election is over. That will give them time to crank-up their propaganda machine and also potentially face a different scenario on the division of powers -- both within Congress and between the Legislative and the Executive. It makes one suspect of the motives behind the legislation. Is it for good? Or, is it just politics as usual?
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