The Government Of The United States - 1516 Words

From Concept to Law According to The White House website, prior to the Constitution, the government of the United States was known to be practically paralyzed and ineffectual, due to being exercised by the Articles of Confederation, which established a â€Å"firm league of friendship† between the states, and vested most power in a Congress of the Confederation. This power was, however, extremely limited — the central government conducted diplomacy and made war, set weights and measures, was the final arbiter of disputes between the states, but it could not raise any funds itself, it was entirely dependent on the states themselves for the money necessary to operate (whitehouse.gov, n.d.). Decision making was not easy to accomplish. States sent†¦show more content†¦The law making process can be very long and frustrating. In the United States House of Representatives website, the process is described as follows: Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsor s a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill (Representatives, n.d.). Passing the Affordable Care Act represented such process, which started in 2008, even before President Obama won the election, when he said, â€Å"On health care reform, the American people are too often offered two extre mes — government-run health care with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules. †¦ I believe both of these