Let's face it. This isn't about games anymore.

There are a lot of people in America that work in different states at different times of the year. They are considered telecommuters, because they pay income taxes for the state they live in, while working in multiple states. It turns out, though, that these people can be taxed as though they worked full time in each state, therefore having to pay multiple years of taxes in a given year. There is a Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act in the Senate, but it has not emerged from committee so it has not been voted on.

In itself, this might just seem like one of those things. You shrug your shoulders and say, “Well, the lawmakers will get to it when they can.” But then I looked at the things that did get passed through the Senate quickly. Terry Schaivo’s feeding tube was something that made it through the House, the Senate, and the White House within a week. When the Senators voted themselves a new pay rise, they managed to write, argue, ratify, and pass that law on the same day that they disbanded for the end of their session.

So basically, I’d like to see a situation where they have to give the same level of attention to all bills. I’d like to see every bill get a fair shake at being passed, and I think I’ve found a way to do it. Let’s require all bills to be voted on IN ORDER.

Just think about that. There’s a huge backlog of bills that will die in committee. There are hundreds of bills that never see the light of day. Lawmakers will propose them as empty gestures, knowing that they will never be seriously considered.

But what if every lawmaker knew that the bill he presented would be stamped with his name, and put to vote? What if the lawmaker knew that his bill would only be considered after all the other bills had been voted on?

What if a lawmaker has one bill that he actually cares about, and wants to make into a law? It would behoove them to keep the docket short. After all, you never know when the next Terry Schiavo will show up.

Another benefit is that we would get a much better idea of someone’s voting record, because so many more bills would be voted on. Man, I would love to see these guys sweating it out, being forced to take positions, and working with their staff to understand these laws just so that they’ll know what position they want to take.

It would be glorious. Sure, a lot of the laws they would pass would be revisions to previous laws they had passed, but I tell you something. The PACs wouldn’t be able to keep up with influencing lawmakers in one direction or the other, knowing that no law dies in committee. Can you imagine how much more money the corporate interests, big media, big oil, big tobacco, the NRA, and other interest groups would have to raise just to keep up with all the laws?

What’s more, when a lawmaker presented a new law, you would know for a fact that they stood by it, because nobody wants to be responsible for adding backlog to that system.

The more I think about it, the more I love this idea.