In a way, of course, this is special pleading on my part, and I suspect the wahmbulance may already have been summoned.

But - it's nevertheless true that this is the only place where legislative process is given consistent house-room. And, given that (we hope!) this will be only the first of a string of Congresses in which the Dems will be the majority, the topic is surely one of more than geekish interest.

Proceedings in Senate over the energy bill - to take one example - illustrate the need to learn about, and explain, the  bizarre yet essential process by which Federal laws are made. There needs to be a place conducive to that unspectactular, frustrating and abstruse endeavor.

Here is all we've got. And - my sense - once we drop the pilot (or, rather, the pilot embarks on a new vessel), that will be it.

There's more...

I missed the first week of House Ag's markup of the farm bill, what with the old laptop going phut, and battling Vista on the new one.

But - there's every indication that the bill's progress through Congress will be a thoroughly educational experience.

There's more...

As well as the usual annual schedule of blockbusters (appropriations and defense authorization, in particular), we're likely to get a number of large-to-enormous bills on the floor of either house of Congress this year.

Amongst them is the farm bill, which I flagged a couple of weeks ago, but did nothing to speak of on.

Now, today, Matt has grasped the nettle and is looking to do some work on the bill.

Which got me thinking about what somewhere like this can do in helping the cause of the just (whatever that might turn out to be!) as a bill like the farm bill makes its way through Congress.

There's more...

When delving into matters of legislative process, it's all too easy to find oneself not seeing the wood for the trees.

(I have a pile of T-shirts...)

This piece is an attempt to give the business some kind of framework.

I categorize the requirements under three headings:

• Information
  
• Rules of procedure
  
• Judgement

There's more...

Let's take one element of the puzzle, and play around with it.

Suppose the Iraq supplemental bill passes the House with the Murtha Proviso attached.

(Of course, right we only know what the proviso will say in the most general terms. That doesn't matter for present purposes.)

The bill comes over to the Senate, and gets referred to the corresponding committee to Murtha's.

Now, with Byrd as chairman of Apps, there's no way, surely, that the Proviso won't get the nod.

So - Byrd reports out the bill with a substitute - an amendment which replaces everything after the enacting clause - which includes the text of the Proviso.

There's more...