The Perfectly Good Use Of Your Time Act.

October 10, 2009 12:57 PM

Name some recent pieces of legislation whose name was actually the opposite of the bill's real intent.

Basically, I just need as many examples as I can get of bills introduced in congress that were given appealing names that masked their true, often opposite intent. A hypothetical example would be a "Clean Skies" bill that actually loosened air-pollution standards and thus intended to dirty the skies.

And yes, it can involve SOME subjective judgment on your part. For instance, I find the "Defense of Marriage Act" to be the opposite because it turns marriage into a politicized, exclusive institution instead of the voluntary arrangement it is supposed to be. Also, the "Employee Free Choice Act" is a good example because, by removing the secret ballot, it causes employees to be less free in their voting.

Thanks.

posted by Doctor Suarez to Law & Government (9 answers total)

Also, the "Employee Free Choice Act" is a good example because, by removing the secret ballot, it causes employees to be less free in their voting.

EFCA does not remove the secret ballot. It allows employees to choose between checking cards in the privacy of their homes or holding a traditional NLRB election under the observation of management in the workplace.
posted by enn at 1:01 PM on October 10, 2009 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Well, the Healthy Forests Initiative, publicized as reducing fire risk by clearing out understory, has been criticizing as providing a fig leaf for lumber companies to harvest large diameter trees. Another Bush Administration effort, the Clear Skies Initiative, purported to reduce air pollution while decreasing the limits on certain noxious air-born substances.
posted by carmicha at 1:16 PM on October 10, 2009

Best answer: Well, I always found Bush's version of "No Child Left Behind" to be extremely ironic in this way.

By using norm referenced testing to make decisions on school funding, you statistically are always going to have 50% of the students and by extension, schools that score under the 50th percentile. That's the way norm referencing works. And then these schools/children are in danger of losing federal funding and thus are left behind. So rather than giving more support to schools and students that are "left behind" they give less.
posted by Bueller at 1:25 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, a.k.a. the Big Bank Bailout Bill, has arguably contributed to our economic situation getting worse in the long-term, not better; i.e. "Some opponents of the rescue plan—especially conservative commentators influenced by Euro-Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff[18] -- argue that since the problems of the American economy were created by excess credit and debt, a massive infusion of credit and debt into the economy only exacerbates the problems."

A big part of the EESA was TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It has been touted as the government coming to "save the day" by actually buying "undervalued" mortgage-backed securities from financial institutions who were holding them -- but it is actually spreading the poison around by having the government take on those same assets onto its own balance sheets, creating a huge new risk for systemic failure of the government to pay its bills (!), not just the banking sector.

In other words, not a lot of "economic stabilization" at all, and potentially quite the opposite.
posted by Asparagirl at 1:40 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Frankly, any piece of remotely controversial legislation could qualify, depending on your political views. I'm personally a fan of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would drop "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and allow gay men and women to serve openly - but if I believed, as many of its opponents do, that gay people in the military hurts unit cohesion and damages our ability to fight wars, then I think I'd consider that name oxymoronic.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:06 PM on October 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

USA PATRIOT Act

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001

An unconstitutional act if ever there was one.
posted by fifilaru at 2:31 PM on October 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

Help America Vote Act. Created after the 2000 election, the stated goal was to get rid of punch voting methods... largely by replacing them with electronic voting machines which have been widely criticized for the lax security, hackability, and lack of paper trail for audit.
posted by kimdog at 2:37 PM on October 10, 2009

Best answer: Ah yes, the PATRIOT Act, with that second "T" for "terrorism" yet only "three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases."
posted by gingerbeer at 5:15 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Patriot Act. I'll add another vote for that one. How could a patriot do such a thing to his own countrymen?
posted by 2oh1 at 10:48 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]