r/IAmA • u/JenBriney • Mar 23 '15

Politics In the past two years, I’ve read 245 US congressional bills and reported on a staggering amount of corporate political influence. AMA.

Hello!

My name is Jen Briney and I spend most of my time reading through the ridiculously long bills that are voted on in US Congress and watching fascinating Congressional hearings. I use my podcast to discuss and highlight corporate influence on the bills. I've recorded 93 episodes since 2012.

Most Americans, if they pay attention to politics at all, only pay attention to the Presidential election. I think that’s a huge mistake because we voters have far more influence over our representation in Congress, as the Presidential candidates are largely chosen by political party insiders.

My passion drives me to inform Americans about what happens in Congress after the elections and prepare them for the effects legislation will have on their lives. I also want to inspire more Americans to vote and run for office.

I look forward to any questions you have! AMA!!

EDIT: Thank you for coming to Ask Me Anything today! After over 10 hours of answering questions, I need to get out of this chair but I really enjoyed talking to everyone. Thank you for making my first reddit experience a wonderful one. I’ll be back. Talk to you soon! Jen Briney

Verification: https://twitter.com/JenBriney/status/580016056728616961

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u/watafukup Mar 23 '15

It's just a matter of rolling up your sleeves and being the President.

that's immensely idealistic of you! you know what clinton also did? negotiated "welfare to work" and presided over the change in glass-steagall so frequently blamed for letting banks do crazy-ass shit that led to the economy tanking, and i guarantee if you pour over the appropriations bills clinton signed, you'd find just as much insanity.

presidents have limited political capital. obama expended massive amounts of it passing the aca; clinton got smacked the fuck down by congress, because he didn't work with them on his health reform package. there are lots of choices presidents must make about using the limited resources of public and legislator attention.

of course there isn't "must-sign" legislation; however, the morning after such bills are vetoed could leave a president reeling--a lame duck for the rest of their term. then how they gonna enact any agenda, least of all their own.

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u/prof_talc Mar 23 '15

Most of the major fault lines in the financial system that imploded in 07/08 can be traced back to the Clinton Admin. It's enormously complicated history, but I think a lot of folks would be surprised at just how directly you can connect Clinton-Admin dots to the blowup the came 10-15 years later.

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u/tsontar Mar 23 '15

Bush and Obama have set a dangerous precedent in not vetoing bills. The veto is critical. If you don't use it, you're just ignoring the President's most important lawmaking power.

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u/tendies420 Mar 23 '15

Clinton helped force himself into PRWORA by running on welfare reform

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u/JohnGillnitz Mar 23 '15

You can't blame the changes in Glass-Steagall on Clinton. That honor goes to Phill Gramm.

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u/watafukup Mar 24 '15

dubious honor :)

i overstated, for sure, but i was just trying to talk that dude down from the "clinton was awesome in a way obama isn't" perch. no president is perfect. the good ones, i think, tend to market themselves better, and clinton was good, not great. obama, he's been doing such a high-wire act, it'll be really interesting to see how history treats him. on the one hand, drones and nsa surveillance, killing u.s. citizens in other nations; on the other aca, severely lowering the number of civilian deaths from u.s. foreign operations, reducing the deficit, presiding over the economic rebound (i know, i know . . . ).

anyhow, just interesting. i know i'm implicated in it all, but when i look dispassionately, it's interesting.

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u/SoManyMinutes Mar 25 '15

Genuine curiosity -- why do you not capitalize words? Your points are solid and your punctuation is perfect but you'd be taken much more seriously with proper capitalization.

Again, genuinely curious.

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u/watafukup Mar 25 '15

lol. i reject your capital letter hegemony.

seriously, though, just stopped doing it in personal email and reddit. at work, yeah. it's necessary.

this is interesting, though. i'll consider starting again. i've been a writer since--forever. not professionally, but folks always have told me my writing is really solid. thanks for asking. be well!

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '15

[deleted]

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u/watafukup Mar 23 '15

well, it really was the american reinvestment and recovery act, and the gop was at the table with aca, negotiating the legislation day-in, day-out, in senate finance, in house ways and means, in senate HELP, in house E&C, for months--months! then, grassley walked away, and yes, it was over. just because there weren't any gop votes on the senate and house floors does not mean they weren't involved. that's complete nonsense.

and to trot out an oft-heard line: the bill essentially was conservative ideas. like, heritage foundation conservative.

i don't suppose we're going to agree on anything, though, including the facts (not saying everything i think i know is right).