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Bigger isn't always better
By Seymour Klierly Bigger trucks, bigger houses, bigger burgers, and certainly bigger college football players are all good things, right? It's no secret the trend in nearly all things material is to go bigger, except for cell phones. (Really, how much smaller can those buttons get?) We super size our food, add rooms to our homes, and buy 60-inch TVs. For some it's a competition; for others, a necessity. If you have six children, then you certainly need a big vehicle. With so much interest in going bigger, it shouldn't surprise us when our elected officials take the same approach to legislation. The last two weeks in the Senate have been a case study on how to grow a bill into an unmanageable mess. Let's start with the recently passed "energy" bill. Earlier in the year four different committees passed four different bills that had some relevance to the overall energy debate. In the normal order of business the Senate floor would consider those bills individually. However, since each bill had plenty of opposition, Majority Leader Reid decided to lump all four bills into one, massive piece of legislation. By combining these bills, Reid hoped enough members would find something they supported strongly enough to vote for the bill, even if they opposed other sections. So what was included in this monstrous bill? It begins with a carrot to the pro-ethanol crowd. The first section increases the current ethanol mandate by nearly five times. Grain based ethanol is essentially mandated to reach 15 billion gallons per year. On top of that, cellulosic ethanol production is mandated to reach 21 billion gallons per year. The overall mandate jumps from 7.5 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. This column has discussed the growing concerns over grain based ethanol, and those concerns were highlighted on the Senate floor during debate. Also included in the bill are energy efficiency standards for buildings, light bulbs, appliances and basically anything that plugs into a wall. New fuel economy standards for automobiles, anti price-gouging language and new authority to sue OPEC were also included. (Don't be surprised if gas prices increase if these provisions become law.) In the end, Reid's decision to go bigger paid off, convincing 19 Republicans to vote in favor of the bill. The bill must now go to conference with the House. Reid tried, but was unsuccessful in attaching a tax package from the Finance Committee. I guess five bills from five committees is one too many. The second "bigger is better" package is the immigration bill. For the second time in a month, the majority leader exercised his power to bring the immigration bill to the floor without going through the regular committee process. This time around the bill has added funding for border security. Two weeks ago the bill was too big to pass. Will adding more help its chances? Maybe on immigration legislation, smaller is better. The main opposition has come from the right and has targeted the provisions which grant currently present illegal immigrants legal status, if they complete the obstacle course laid out in the bill. Putting that issue aside, there are several provisions in the bill that could pass, if they were sent through on their own. For example, many advocates in the agriculture and business communities would like to see reforms to the H-2A and H-2B visa programs. These reforms are much less controversial and could help address current needs. Yet when they get lumped into the greater "amnesty" debate of the large bill, they have little to no chance of passing. It's hard to see if the trend toward bigger, more expansive legislation is driven by competition or necessity on Capitol Hill. However, the real losers in this trend are reasonable and targeted legislative priorities. What a shame.
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