The Bill National Service Act
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Even though most textbooks still describe the process of how a bill becomes law as they did decades ago, Steven Waldman’s book, The Bill, shows how lawmaking has changed dramatically in recent years. A Newsweek journalist, Waldman had nearly unlimited access to lawmakers directly responsible for pushing the Clinton Administration’s national service bill through Congress. The book follows the bill’s history, from its beginnings as a campaign promise through its final result: creation of AmeriCorps and a new college loan system. In this work, we are able to watch the behind-the-scenes machinations of those responsible for the bill and those who are opposed to it. We see that lobbyists, senators, and businessmen often share the spoils of a political environment that is preoccupied with money more than good intentions. We see the side-switching, back stabbing, and belabored efforts of those in favor of the bill and those opposed to it. We also see that conflicting ideals are either reconciled or buried. So, too, we are able to see that one of former President Clinton’s greatest strengths was his ability to cater to the largest possible numbers of people while remaining true to his beliefs and ideals. This analysis will use concrete examples from The Bill to demonstrate the characteristics of the American legislative process that influenced policy and outcomes when it comes to the passing of the National Service Act.
. . .
overage on the particular legislation. We see how the Clinton team in favor of the legislation tried to use the media to help support its case for passing the bill by focusing on the states where key Republicans lived. However, we also see that the media’s lack of interest in the issue made it easier for those opposed to the proposed legislation to continue efforts to prevent it from becoming law “The team decided that, instead of trying a broad media strategy, it would concentrate on stirring up press coverage in the eight states represent by key Republicans. Part of the problem was the media’s lack of interest in the subject was allowing the filibuster to occur. No one was under pressure and under those conditions you can generate opposition quite easily” (Waldman 213).
We also see that individual politicians exert enormous influence during the legislative process. We see this in the actions of Bob Dole, who, instead of filibustering against the proposed legislation simply took the more informal and subtle route of informing democrats that he had “forty-one votes against national service, which meant he could sustain a filibuster if he wanted to” (Waldman 208). We also see that enlisting the aid of Senator Ed Kennedy was
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Carol Moseley-Braun, Service Act, Clinton Administrations, President Clinton, Act BODY, Republicans Kennedy, Sallie Mae, President Clintons, Larry Hough, Bob Dole, national service, service bill, service act, national service act, lobbying efforts, national service bill, direct lending, key republicans, campaign promise, college loan system, becoming law, favor legislation, ultimate legislation,
Approximate Word count = 1399
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
More Essays on The Bill National Service Act
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
