After posting this story, I called my own legislators and then resumed work. It took me a while to contact all three of them (two senators and one congressman) so I assumed the lines were fairly busy. They must have been. A few minutes ago (hours after my original post), a friend rushed in my office to tell me that the House had killed the bill. Good for them! I am also glad elections are coming up; I wonder of our representatives would have been as responsive if the elections were more than a year out. At least we can rest easy that this bill is now dead for the near future.

So much for my assumption that the bill was dead for the near future. Both President Bush (R) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D) really want this bill. The politicians in the Senate revised the bill with many earmarks intended to bribe those who voted no the first time. It passed the Senate yesterday and the House is expected to vote on it later today. I just called my representative and strongly expressed my opposition to this bill. I hope others are doing likewise. The House is the only body that is likely to pay attention to public attention since ALL of them are up for reelection in November. Let’s throw out all the people who vote for this bill whether it passes or not.