The GOP go on and on about the health care bill being 2,000 plus pages...

[Puzzler]

... but, just how big is the average bill?

I mean, the way the GOP talks, you'd think that the average bill is only 10 or 20 pages. But this surely can't be true.

[FrenchieCat]

1. They've had some time to read it,

so I'm not sure why it's an issue.......

Beats their one page blank plan for sure!

[glowing]

2. That's what I said to my mom today.. They aren't stupid.. these people know how big their bills are.

Its just an issue to keep from debating the merits of what is in the bill.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. It worked for them with the Clinton Plan, it works for a stupid population

that has never read 200 pages much less 2000.

[Wickerman]

4. The usual bill is over 1,000 pages

That said, is there anything to these complaints? Is the reform bill unusually long? Not really. Christopher Beam had a good piece on this the other day.

ajor spending bills frequently run more than 1,000. This year's stimulus bill was 1,100 pages. The climate bill that the House passed in June was 1,200 pages. Bill Clinton's 1993 health care plan was famously 1,342 pages long. Budget bills can run even longer: In 2007, President Bush's ran to 1,482 pages.

Over the last several decades, the number of bills passed by Congress has declined: In 1948, Congress passed 906 bills. In 2006, it passed only 482. At the same time, the total number of pages of legislation has gone up from slightly more than 2,000 pages in 1948 to more than 7,000 pages in 2006. (The average bill length increased over the same period from 2.5 pages to 15.2 pages.)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_08/019629.php

[napi21]

5. The same dods complained about the quasi bill Obama put on the

white House web site because it was only 3 pages! They will argue about anything no matter what. I honestly think they;re throwing everything against the wall and hoping something will stick!

[bluestateguy]

6. The single payer bill (HR 676) is 30 pages

If they want to do it that way, I'm game for that.

[golfguru]

7. Ditto....nt

[cvoogt]

8. but they find time to read the Bible ..

oh wait, they probably don't read its fine print either

[csziggy]

9. They don't read the entire Bible, just the talking points n/t

[ChicagoSuz219]

10. How come McConnell's bill was 2700 pages...

...when everyone else's was 2400? ;-)