I've been noticing, that both Parties have this tactic, where they suddenly change the language of a bill, in the dead of night, with no oversight, and then force a vote the next morning at 9am. That way, no one gets to read the bill, and only "staff" can alert the Senators/Congressmen of last-minute changes in wording.

Both parties get screwed by this, especially when they're in the minority.

The Reps did it to the Dems while they were in power (like, Medicare Part D is an example), and the Dems are doing to the Reps right now (the TRIA thing is the most recent example) -

And it occurs to me that this stuff is a real problem - I mean, think about it - this is a really wicked way to play politics with the very serious business of stewarding the nation.

What are we going to do about this stuff, people?

These are "rules" we're talking about here - House and Senate "rules", that determine the way bills will be treated in committee and on the floor.

Any thoughts?

Hey, this belongs under "current events", the TRIA thing was this morning.

Oh well, doesn't matter....

For those who are interested TRIA is the Terrorism Re-Insurance Act, it's the government trying to figure out what to do with the concept of "terrorism insurance". It's fun stuff, I highly recommend checking out the debate on C-SPAN.

I thought this post was going to be about how long something can be left on the floor and still be safe to eat.
But as for the congress rule, I agree with you. It's dirty and underhanded to slide in changes without notice (didn't that happen with the Patriot Act?). Congressmen need enough time to be able to read... or at least scan over the bill and any changes well before it is time to vote on it.
It seems more and more our politicians care more about the game and what's good for the party rather than legitimacy and what's good for the constituents. Government officials often forget that people on the other side are constituents too.

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The Tall Man, Phantasm III