Just a little conflict of interest? Ya think?

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
11/18/2015 at 16:35 • Filed to: None

Just before the deadline of midnight on November 11, US Representative Roger Williams, R-Austin, slipped an amendment into the massive transportation bill that would allow US car dealers to rent or loan cars that are currently under a recall notice but had not yet been repaired. Not surprisingly, Williams owns car dealerships.

The restriction on renting defective cars was written after the deaths of two women who died in a recalled rental vehicle that caught fire and then crashed. Williams’ amendment would limit the restriction only to companies whose primary business is renting cars, effectively creating an exemption for dealerships that rent or loan cars to customers. The amendment was supported by Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, another auto dealer (not surprisingly).

In his remarks on the floor of the House, Williams said that the law would be bad for small businesses. “Vehicles would be grounded for weeks or months for such minor compliance matters as an airbag warning sticker that might peel off the sun visor or an incorrect phone number printed in the owner’s manual,” Williams said.

Right.

The amendment does not appear in the Senate version of the transportation bill, and the House and Senate will meet in committee to work out differences in the bill.

You can read the whole story in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

DISCUSSION (22)

coelacanthist > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:42

We really do have the best government money can buy.

ttyymmnn > coelacanthist
11/18/2015 at 16:42

And none of us have enough money.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:43

High quality leadership.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch
11/18/2015 at 16:46

Supposedly, these guys are up on the Hill doing the People’s business, not their own. But we know how the system really works.

TractorPillow > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:47

When you can vote on your own salary do you really have to do shit like this? Pathetic politicians.

Leon711 > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:52

Capitalism!

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:53

typical.

Voting won’t help us. They all suck ass balls

ttyymmnn > Leon711
11/18/2015 at 16:54

But only for some of us.

Leon711 > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 16:55

The American Dream!

SVTyler > Leon711
11/18/2015 at 17:02

*terms and conditions may apply

davedave1111 > EL_ULY
11/18/2015 at 17:02

Fortunately, it does appear the main purpose of a democratic government - as in the UK and US - is to provide the appearance of government without ever actually doing much, in order to prevent people seeing a power gap and trying to fill it.

davedave1111 > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 17:08

Do you know where I can find the full text of the amendment? It’s possible that this is actually a reasonable paring-back of an overly restrictive regulation - although admittedly my first assumption is that he’s buttering his own crumpet there.

With recalls like the ignition switch one, which are urgent, fair enough, no-one should rent out a vehicle in that condition. Many - most? - recalls are much less serious, though. They’re ‘fix this next time the vehicle’s in for service’ rather than ‘call the customers in NOW’. Renting a car with one of those recalls out for another couple of weeks before it’s fixed doesn’t strike me as a big deal.

Leon711 > SVTyler
11/18/2015 at 17:09

Your experience may differ.

ttyymmnn > davedave1111
11/18/2015 at 17:11

Fair enough.

https://www.congress.gov/amendment/114t…

davedave1111 > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 17:20

Oh, well, had a look and... I’m none the wiser.

I really hate this kind of lawmaking, where they write ‘delete such-and-such, insert so-and-so into Old Act 575129’, so you have to go and look up the old legislation too.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-con…

ttyymmnn > davedave1111
11/18/2015 at 17:23

(B) by indenting subparagraphs (A) and (B) four ems from the left margin;

This is why government doesn’t work.

Sam > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 17:27

I feel like the government needs a bit of a reform. I was scrolling through the amendment and it had some sort of stuff about our relationship with Cuba? How is that relevant?

ttyymmnn > Sam
11/18/2015 at 17:30

And therein lies the problem. Members of Congress are allowed to tack their own pet bills onto just about anything. Transportation bill? Here, I’ve got an amendment about swimming pool safety. There’s no way on God’s green Earth that any member of Congress can know exactly what they are voting on. I guaran-damn-tee you that most of them never even read the full text of the bills they vote on.

EL_ULY > davedave1111
11/18/2015 at 17:31

lol seems like it sir

davedave1111 > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 17:38

Wow, I missed that line. Although it has to be said that formatting can be quite important. Consider the following:

It is illegal to:

- Eat cookies and:

—— Ride a bicycle;

—— Drive a car;

- Scratch your nose.

The missing dashes in the last line rather change its meaning, at least at first glance.

Sam > ttyymmnn
11/18/2015 at 18:18

We did a mock Congress in my senior government class, where we each had to write a bill to be voted on. I wrote a bill that basically rescinded 90% of the Constitution, but it was passed because it was about 15 pages long, used big words, and nobody wanted to read it.

ttyymmnn > Sam
11/18/2015 at 18:22

I rest my case.