Exactly What Was On That Bill? Pol106

Congress has a long tradition of tacking on multiple issues to high priority bills. Recently the flood relief bill passed with just under $2 billon going to the Midwest to help it recover from the massive flooding which has been occurring according to a June 18th article from CBS. However, the bill also brought in $52 billion to extend the GI college benefits and $165 billion going to the pentagon to aid the Iraqi and Afghanistan war effort. Many people are opposed to the war, yet by tacking it onto a flood relief bill it was sure to fly through congress. Looking at high profile bills it is easy to see that congress does this to decrease the amount of debate over bills. Both sides wanted flood relief and the democrats wanted to increase the GI bill and the republicans wanted to add enough budget money to the war so the next President can make immediate policy in the Middle-East. How can we let all these bills pass so easily? Simply put, congress negotiates and compromises. We civilians may not understand why they do this, but the truth we do see is that now everyone gets what they wanted and the flood relief money was not held up in debate for months. Overall I believe it was the right action to take. And let me state now, I did not comment on the war being funded because that is an issue that will take up far more posts than I can think of, but feel free to add your own opinion to whether the military and civilian budget money should be on the same bills.