Ask Auntie Pinko
October 24, 2002

Dear Auntie Pinko,

It seems like congress hardly ever votes on anything at all, much less anything really important. Most of the legislation congress has voted on seems to be so confusing that you can't really tell what it means. I asked my Representative why he voted against a bill on an issue he had promised to support, and he said that the bill had a "poison pill" in it. What does that mean?

Wilson,
Boston, MA

Dear Wilson,

It's confusing, isn't it? It's not easy for concerned citizens to hold our legislators accountable, when so much of government happens "behind the scenes" of mainstream press coverage.

You ask about the "poison pill." This is a device used by opponents of a bill to prevent it from passing, or, as a last resort, to make it impossible for the bill to have its originally-intended effect. It is usually in the form of an amendment, often attached during the committee process before the bill even reaches the floor. Take, for example, an imaginary bill offered by a green-minded Representative, that would require all vehicles sold in the U.S. to have an average fuel efficiency of 35 miles per gallon by 2005.

You can imagine who is likely to oppose such a bill: auto and truck manufacturers, trucking companies, fleet managers for large companies, and others. They are powerful interests. Now imagine that we are at war in the Middle East (not hard to imagine, is it?) and that the costs of gasoline have skyrocketed, and that a very large number of average Americans are now seriously considering the effects of our dependence on Middle East oil sources. There is a lot of popular support for this imaginary bill, which its sponsors have shrewdly named the "Transportation Independence Act of 2003 (TIA)." Even Republican members of Congress are getting a lot of constituent calls supporting the bill.

Now imagine yourself a Congressional Representative who has always relied on lavish campaign contributions from PACs and lobbies connected with the auto industry. These interests have also contributed generously to both parties to enable the parties to help candidates like you get elected and re-elected. There is an auto parts manufacturing plant in your district that employs many people. You hear from industry representatives that if the TIA is passed, that plant will have to close down to re-tool, and may not necessarily re-open if the costs of re-tooling are too high.

You want to be seen by your constituents to support the TIA, but you also want to keep that plant open and protect your constituents' jobs. So you cut a deal with the auto industry lobbyists to have a "poison pill" added to the TIA. You have a number of choices.

One very effective poison pill in this imaginary case would be to change language from "all vehicles sold in the US" to: "all vehicles manufactured in the US." It's pretty obvious to everyone that such a change would completely eviscerate the US auto industry, sending automakers scrambling overseas in swarms. With language like that, the bill could never pass out of a committee. You can then, in good conscience, tell your green-minded constituents that you would have voted for it if it had reached the floor, but those bad naughty people of the opposing Party kept it from ever getting there.

Another option might be to add a "exceptions" to the bill: All vehicles sold in the US, except trucks and cargo-carrying vehicles. Then add fine print defining any vehicle with trunk space in excess of a certain number of cubic feet, or with rear-door access to cargo space, as "cargo-carrying vehicles." Huge gas-guzzlers will continue to cruise American highways, secure in their inalienable right to keep the US dependent on non-renewable oil. Or you might add an exception such as "by 2005, except where manufacturers assert that they will experience 'unreasonable economic impact' in meeting a particular deadline, in which case they can have an automatic five-year extension before they need to comply." You can then vote for the bill (knowing that an endless series of extensions will be granted to almost all manufacturers, especially the one with the plant in your district) and proudly proclaim your "environmental record."

The fertile imaginations of lobbyists and legislation-drafters and conflicted Representatives are without limit when it comes to ways of poisoning a bill that threatens influential interests. So how does the average citizen who doesn't want to tie themselves to C-SPAN 24 hours a day make sense out of all this maneuvering?

The simple answer is, you don't. There are hundreds, thousands even, of advocacy groups who make it part of their job to track the minutiae of the legislative process as it affects their interests. When you hear from your Representative that they have a "green" voting record because they voted for this or that, or opposed this or that, don't take their word for it. Hit the Internet, or make some phone calls. Contact green advocacy organizations who share your interests and/or are located at "your" spot on the spectrum between toxic-waste dumper and conscientious Q-Tip recycler. Most of them track the voting records of your Representative, and are happy to explain why a particular position on a particular piece of legislation accomplishes the goals you share.

That's the easy way. If you're up for a little more work, you can track one or two particular issues yourself. There a numerous resources - I've already mentioned C-SPAN, and the Congressional Record is also on line - that can help you sort out who did what to whom where in the process.

One important thing to keep in mind, Wilson: be sure you try to examine your Representative's whole record, or at least a broad sample of issues beyond the one or two that are most important to you. Even the "best" Representative can't always agree with you on every issue. A solid record on six or eight medium-important issues can counterbalance a flub or two on a very important issue, and can show you a lot about how receptive your Representative might be to changing views and listening to constituent input. Keep a big-picture perspective, and thanks for asking Auntie Pinko!

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