I'm Just a Bill (Schoolhouse Rock!)
TheGreatWorker1 HN recommender · recommended in 1 month, 2013–2024
music · general · evergreen · 2013–2024 on HN
The Schoolhouse Rock! cartoon song 'I'm Just a Bill', in which a bill explains how it travels through Congress to become law.
Cited as a classic, catchy explainer of the US legislative process, and half-jokingly as many people's whole civics education.
Up next
12 mo on HNGeorge Lakoff: Moral Politics
University of California Television (UCTV)
3 HN recommender · 2016–2024
11 mo on HNWhy Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea
Tom Scott
11 HN recommender · 2020–2026
11 mo on HNRepublic, Lost | Lawrence Lessig | Talks at Google
Talks at Google
10 HN recommender · 2011–2017
11 mo on HNAntonin Scalia - On American Exceptionalism
AmericanRhetoric.com
12 HN recommender · 2019–2025
10 mo on HNThe Cardboard Box Reform - Nixon's Ghost Bill & A Crucial Flaw in Democracy
CRI
9 HN recommender · 2014–2025
10 mo on HNThe Coming Collapse of the Middle Class with Elizabeth Warren
University of California Television (UCTV)
10 HN recommender · 2008–2022
9 mo on HNWe the People, and the Republic we must reclaim | Lawrence Lessig
TED
8 HN recommender · 2013–2026
10 mo on HNWhy Your Vote Doesn't Count
CGP Grey
10 HN recommender · 2015–2025
8 mo on HNMay 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications
Road Less Marveled
9 HN recommender · 2015–2026
7 mo on HNThe Voting System That Should Replace Every Election
CGP Grey
7 HN recommender · 2012–2021
7 mo on HNThe Voting System That's Actually Too Good for Politicians to Allow
CGP Grey
7 HN recommender · 2015–2021
6 mo on HNWhy Electronic Voting is a BAD Idea - Computerphile
Computerphile
7 HN recommender · 2015–2025
3 comments from Hacker News
One of the best School House Rocks videos ever is "I'm Just a Bill." ▶ this video There are two things missing: 1. Congress can override a Presidential veto with a vote a two-thirds majority in the both chambers. 2. The President can also let a Bill sit for 11 or 12 days (it's really 10, but Sundays don't count.) At that point it becomes law without the President's signature.
A "law" has been finalized, passed by both halves of Congress, and ratified. A "bill" is an incomplete proposal at any stage of this process. There is a catchy song [1] to help everyone remember this. A bill is the same as a pull request that has not yet been merged. So the statement, "The U.S. [has] yet to pass even a basic internet-era privacy law..." is correct. In other words: The American Privacy Rights Act is just a bill, yes it's only a bill, and it's sitting there on Capitol Hill... [1] ▶ this video
disclaimer: my understanding of the legislative process is based entirely on Schoolhouse Rock's "I'm Just a Bill" ( ▶ this video ). so a citizen's access to a particular DC statute is impossible without that citizen infringing a copyright? I wonder if circumstances such as these would constitute "fair use" (which as i understand it is a valid defense to copyright infringement). also, i'm aware that doing things that would otherwise constitute intellectual property infringement, can be justified by the "Essential Facilities" doctrine--originally an Anti-Trust safe harbor, though it's also been applied to IP. This seems to apply here.