Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a country, it would appear that we lost our minds in the wake of 9/11. Widespread government surveillance. Armed drones. Massive bills passing through Congress without being completely read. Amazingly intrusive security at airports, now filtering down to train and bus stations. Indefinite suspension of prisoners of war. Yes, we have gone astray. For those of you old enough, could you imagine such things happening…
> Massive bills passing through Congress without being completely read. I expect that to be the norm in the 70s, 80s, and 90s as it is the norm today and will continue to be in the future, for the same reasons. I imagine armed drones coming into use essentially as fast as they're developed; I don't believe any past government would have abstained. I'm with you on the widespread government surveillance, absurd "securi…
Well, I think it's safe to assume that we've always had some amount of idiots in Congress: individuals whose lack of deep intellect and substantive accomplishments in life were offset by their ability to charm others. It seems reasonable that there have been many, many votes in the Senate and House in which the full language of the bills hasn't been read by the people doing the voting.
That said, I don't know if bills as massive as the Patriot Act, TARP bailout, or ACA are just "business as usual" for Congress. If you consider the sheer amount of lobbying that takes place today, along with the ease of cutting-and-pasting huge blocks of text into a document and the level of apathy the general public has these days towards all things political, I bet these bills couldn't have existed in decades past.
I think in the past, the corruption took place one small-to-moderate-sized bill at a time, with regular frequency. Now, it's a feeding frenzy that is shoved through all at once in the hope that nobody reads the fine print.