Re:The Healthcare Diff
by chrischen on Saturday March 13, 2010 @05:14AM
(#1188765)
They should write the bill in a programming language instead of English. Then it won't be so tough to interpret it. :)
[ Parent
| on HN ]
They do... what you see there in the "4,000 page" bill is legislative language - pretty clear code for a lawyer or legislative aide. On the other hand, the Congressional Research Service puts out some pretty good nonpartisan "plain-language" bill summaries (and for anyone who asks "well why don't they just use those the laws themselves", ask yourself "why don't you just write code in English" - they both have the potential for ambiguity).
Incidentally, I put "4,000 page" in quotes because it's a pet peeve... if you actually look at the text, it's in 24pt font and giant margins - makes it much easier to read and mark up around a table, but in no way approximates the amount of text people envision when you say "X-thousand pages".