New Law: Obama Signs ‘Plain Writing Act’
- Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:10am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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“With little fanfare,” ABC News explains, “President Obama [last] week signed The Plain Writing Act of 2010.”
So what is this new law? In plain English, it ensures you can understand government documents. No jargon. No gibberish. No lie.
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires that government documents be written in “plain language,“ defined as ”writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience.”
The measure, praised by clear-writing advocates, was opposed by almost three dozen Republican House members initially, and by 80 Republicans after Senate modifications.
“There is no reason why the federal government can’t write these forms and other public documents in a way we can all understand,” said Rep. Bruce Braley’s (D-IA), who introduced the bill to the House in February. “Writing government documents in plain language will increase government accountability and will save Americans time and money.”
This isn’t the firs time government has tried to clarify its own writing, according to ABC. In the 70s, President Richard Nixon ordered the “Federal Register” be written in “layman’s terms.”
During the Clinton administration, officials issued monthly “No Gobbledygook Awards” to agencies that ditched confusing copy. Vice President Al Gore even went as far as to call plain language a civil right, and said it promoted trust in government. The effort birthed a government Web site still in operation, www.plainlanguage.gov.
But English teachers and frustrated constituents should not get too excited yet. While each federal agency must designate an overseer for the laws implementation, there are no penalties for agencies or bureaucrats that continue to produce convoluted documents.
ABC gives two examples of the law’s early effects:
Consider this advisory from the Department of Health and Human Services: “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a half hour or more of moderate physical activity on most days, preferably every day. The activity can include brisk walking, calisthenics, home care, gardening, moderate sports exercise, and dancing.”
It already has been changed to this: “Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week.”
And a fishing directive that said, “After notification of NMFS, this final rule requires all CA/OR DGN vessel operators to have attended one Skipper Education Workshop after all workshops have been convened by NMFS in September,” has been changed to, “Vessel operators must attend a skipper education workshop before commencing fishing.”
The new law will apply to everything from tax returns to applications for Veterans Administration benefits.
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Comments (155)
Steve Smith
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:55amHmmm… wonder if this will work the same way as Paygo…
Report Post »shanneba
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:48amDon’t worry, this ONLY applies to the executive branch. It will not apply to congress and the bills they write. I find it interesting that the bill requires training for staff, reporting to congress annually, but the CBO says there will be no deficit increase for all this!
From the actual bill – HR 946
In this Act:
(1) AGENCY- The term `agency’ means an Executive agency, as defined under section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
From section 105 of the US code:
Report Post »The Executive departments are:
The Department of State.
The Department of the Treasury.
The Department of Defense.
The Department of Justice.
The Department of the Interior.
The Department of Agriculture.
The Department of Commerce.
The Department of Labor.
The Department of Health and Human Services.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Department of Transportation.
The Department of Energy.
The Department of Education.
The Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Department of Homeland Security.
DDD3D
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 12:00pmHmmm…
Fifteen Departments in the modern executive branch.
Five were good enough for Washington: State, War (now Defense), Treasury, Attorney General (now Justice) and Postmaster General.
The simplest illustration of the expansion of the federal government I can think of.
Report Post »Treehog
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:47amTwo legs bad, four legs good.
Report Post »LLATPOH
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:45amSo, it’s one more law without teeth.
Obama: “I’ve signed this bill into law which makes it illegal to be confusing.”
Legislature: “And if we choose not to follow this new law?”
Obama: “Well, then never mind.”
Another thought… Consider this sentence again…
“And a fishing directive that said, ‘After notification of NMFS, this final rule requires all CA/OR DGN vessel operators to have attended one Skipper Education Workshop after all workshops have been convened by NMFS in September,’ has been changed to, ‘Vessel operators must attend a skipper education workshop before commencing fishing.’”
The second sentence does not carry the same meaning as the first.
-CA/OR DGN Vessel operators are obviously only one type of vessel operator. The modified sentence now implies that ALL vessel operators will need to attend a workshop. So, the scope is lost.
Important bits like that one will have to be put somewhere else in the document, meaning that at least one more sentence is necessary, or – at some point in the future – the document will have to be clarified, thereby creating more paperwork over the original paperwork, and thus adding to the confusion.
Sometimes long sentences are necessary.
Report Post »Capitalist Mama
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 11:46amBuilding on this idea:
In the first sample: The exercise was “recommended.“ It then became ”do”- an imperative. That worries me. You can’t be held accountable for not doing recommended activities, but the new wording becomes an order. How long until we are fined if we don’t exercise? Thanks to ObamaCare, the government now has a vested interest in all Americans engaging in physical activity.
Report Post »TraditionalAmerican
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 1:07pmAgreed. How is it that the American people can see this, but the people we choose to represent us before the rest of the country, and the person we choose to represent us before the rest of the world, can’t? One more reason power should belong to the people.The original sentences weren’t even all that confusing. I’m seventeen and I understood it the first time through, so I’m guessing most other people can..?
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 2:24pmTHAT IS THEIR INTENTION, and that is why the republicans refused to vote on it and fought it. changing the words changes the meaning it is intentional read my post on page three
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:45amIf this was such an issue for the Progressives, wouldn’t they have written Obamacare – that bill with the unconstitutional individual mandate, which therefore has no force of law and should be treated as such by all – in less than 2000 pages? Wouldn’t they have taken it upon themselves to write it clearly and concisely, since they believe it’s such a big issue?
It seems that this is an attempt by Progressives to procure the power to define what is plain English, rather than to help people.
Report Post »hempstead1944
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:42amThis was another Obama lie the moment ink from his pen touched the document.
Report Post »AstupidAmerican
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:35amToo many big words, Its just another way to call us stupid.
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:34amEye r aye hiskool gadjewet! mEE nuaeed dumm douned gobermant duckumantts.
(Loosely translated from hooked on phonics speak to passable low brow English.)
I are a high school graduate. Me need dumb downed government documents.
It is so rewarding to know that virtually my entire education was provided by Jimmy Carter and the democrats. Gee Thanks Jimmy for dumbing down my generation and ushering in the loser generations to follow.
Report Post »LadyLiberty
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:33amThey needed one of Obama’s promises not to cost a trillion.
Report Post »WestOfThePecos
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:32amDoes this laws apply to the Spanish versions also?
Report Post »Country
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:32amWhat ever will Obama do without the SEIU lawyers to write future bills for him?
Report Post »Deda1
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:30amHe ought to try and speak in plain English and quit lying about everything.
Report Post »john seven eighteen
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:29amApparantly it was not important enough to make the changes before the silly health care bill was shoved down our throats, but now that that monstrocity is done they deem it fit for everyone else to make sure their bills are understandable. What a joke!
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:28amAdd your comments
Report Post »DDD3D
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 11:50amIt wasn’t Carter who started the massive dis-education of America, it was Johnson. Instead of requiring blacks, excuse me, African-Americans, to live up to the educational standards of the day, the Johnson Administration just lowered the standards for everyone. Presto-chango…suddenly black (sorry, I meant African-American) students were meeting the same educational standards as white (that is, *******) students. Instant equality! Ho-ray!
After 45 years of such rubbish, no one can even spell education, much less claim to have one.
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:28amI r aye hi skool gadjewit.
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:35amEye r aye hiskool gadjewet! mEE nuaeed dumm douned gobermant duckumantts.
(Loosely translated from hooked on phonics speak to passable low brow English.)
I are a high school graduate. Me need dumb downed government documents.
Thanks Jimmy Carter for master minding the downfall of education in American.
Report Post »printdesignchicago.com
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:27amthis is right out of idiocracy….
Report Post »OldFlyGuy
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:27amA good idea but I wonder how many “word czars” will be added to BHO’s bloated bureaucracy?
Report Post »DJR
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:26amWell, maybe now Conyers will be able to understand the bills and maybe he’ll read them.
Report Post »Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:25amIt isn’t the language that is the issue here. The law simply creates more government. It creates government to read the documents of other government bureacracies and tell them how to write documents. But now we have the problem of who is going to review the new “Simple Language” Department’s charter.
Again, if congressmen simply wrote their own bills or if the people writing them for them were directed with “don‘t submit any garbage because I won’t present it” or if congressmen didn‘t vote for bills that they haven’t/couldn’t read (gasp) then maybe the problem fixes itself. Either way it is truly rich that the POTUS signs some of the most weighty bills in human history and now finds religion on this topic. I must admit that it’s hard to hear what he says because what he does is screaming too loudly in my ear.
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:36amAlas, you are right….more agencies to watch the agencies!!! Got ta watch the movie “Brazil” again. Getting to sound more and more like “Central Control”!
Report Post »USNRET04
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:24amCan this law be retroactive and apply to Obamacare? It would read:
“You pay for your healthcare and the 40 million others. Government takes over healthcare and does the normal lousy job”. Clear and concise.
Report Post »mintyfresh
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:23pmand yet exhibits a total misunderstanding of the healthcare bill…
Report Post »bschonec
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:24amNow if we could only get him to sign the “One Language Writing Act” instead of having government documents in umpteen different languages.
Report Post »heebster
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 9:09amYeah! English is the greatest language in the world! Who cares if we are the only country in the world that isn’t bilingual? Since America will always be #1, we don’t need to learn anything besides English.
Oh wait, what about those billion people who speak Chinese?
Report Post »M31Sailor
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 10:43amHeebee jeebee
Why didn’t you write your reply in Chinese?
Report Post »Josh
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 12:47pm@ Heebster:
Report Post »The primary language for this country is English. If I moved to France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, or any other country where English is not the primary language, I would be expected to be able to understand the basics of their language. Asking that your citizens have a basic understanding of the primary language spoken/used in your country shouldn’t be a problem.
Sandy
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:23amWhy didn’t they use this with the healthcare bill, the stimulus bill, the omnimus bill, the cap & trade bill………. Why doesn’t he use this in his spread the wealth rhetoric? People wouldn’t vote for him if he did!
Report Post »TraditionalAmerican
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 1:12pmThis law is just to placate us.
Report Post »With no penalty for not complying with the law, who is actually going to follow it?
snowleopard3200
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:20amNow does this mean that all forms will be in plain english that we the people of america can actually understand without being a genius law form – or the kind the administration and Progressives think we could understand…”This letter children is an A…can you say that…”
So the IRS-KGB code will be simplified to “How much money did you make this year? Send it to us comrads!!!”
What good will it be to the legislature and their special interests groups (who write them anyhow – such as health care and the Apollo alliance) when they wont “Read the bill…who has time to read a bill that takes two days (or such) and two lawyers to explain it…”
What is good though, is that we the people of america can force the administraiton and the legislature to be more accountable with this bill. At least until they find another way to pervert it, or more likely just simply ignore everything it says as they usually do.
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (mix art)
Report Post »american1st
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 3:18pmlegalese is complex because it needs to be accurate, and it must have only one possible interpretation. it also must be complex to give lawyers something to charge lots of money for…
if we make legal documents to simple lawyers will make a fortune arguing what the language means in court, and ultimately laws will go back to being written in legal language because of it…
i don’t mind them simplifying language if it is not done at the expense of legal accuracy, but this smacks of “meaningless make them feel good do nothing legislation”
Report Post »Whitehouse Mouse
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:20amDems are going down in November. Is that plain enough?
Report Post »A1955Rosie
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 9:59amYeah, this bill can sit beside his TRANSPARENCY promise. Teets on a bull.
Report Post »Promotefreedom
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 10:09amHomer: Down where?
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 12:23pmMaybe – but then the Tea Party will have to learn to govern – that will be interesting to watch!1
Report Post »http://wp.me/pYLB7-gd
Farmhand
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 9:36pmI said the same thing about the dems when things turned south for the GOP during Bush’s second term, and it has! Kinda depressing and infuriating but also interesting to see them try. Turned against them within two years (or four if you count congress). Here’s hoping the Tea Party can do better.
Report Post »RobertCA
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:18amit’s the same language but only shorter , so all they did is delete few words .
Report Post »snowleopard3200
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:27amMaybe they will have VP Biden write the laws like this…
“Me chief and incompetent, you vote me out in November, we have good trade.”
It might work?
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (mix art)
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:28amNo matter how short or how plain, it’s a little (way too) late for that. Just another smoke screen.
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:35amDoes this apply to ALLLLLL Bills considered by Congress? If it regarding all government documents, bills and acts are government documents and should be required to comply with this legislation.
Also, what were the “Senate Modifications”? And is this piece of legislation written in plain English???? or is it like the health care act?
Report Post »AstupidAmerican
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:36amToo many big words, the American people are just too stupid.
Report Post »Tucsonan
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:48amAnd how much of this extra work is it costing us taxpayers? Time is money…..
Report Post »p8triot
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:48amAstupidAmerican
Rick Sanchez sends his regards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laptaCg0BHA
Report Post »catllers
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:53amsimple for the simpltons. simple “your screwed”
Report Post »Independent Tess
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:55amSince there are no penalties, any group who wants to confuse taxpayers can still produce their gobbledygook bills and rules. It is a bill with no teeth so that politicians can pat themselves on the back with self righteous pride.
Report Post »JGP
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 9:03amI imagine this is being done for Conyers, Al Green, (should he make it), Sheila Jackson, Biden, and that idiot that thought Gaum might capsize with additional troops stationed there.
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 9:58amWill it include the health care bill or will that monstrosity get grandfathered in so we can never fully understand it?
Report Post »drbage
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 10:26amOne question: Who is writing the plain language? a lawyer? a union curriculum developer? Sen. Baucus’ “experts”?
Report Post »GardenoftheGods
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 10:33amKnowing the gov’t….it’ll be all the important words!!! Nah, just kidding! Should, if really implemented, shorten these humungous bills!
Report Post »Huckabee Gingrich 12
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 11:12amThis should be called “The Dumb-it-Down-for-Bammy Act of 2010″.
Report Post »StMichelob
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 11:49amI may not be a smaht man, but I know what “a half hour or more of moderate physical activity on most days, preferably every day. The activity can include brisk walking, calisthenics, home care, gardening, moderate sports exercise, and dancing” is…Why don’t you love me, Jen-ny?
Report Post »gobuckeyes45
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 12:50pmIs this the “***** dialect” Harry Reid was talking about?
Report Post »Flagwaver
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 2:18pm“it’s the same language but only shorter , so all they did is delete few words .”
Those couple of words could mean the difference between freedom and incarceration. If it is too simple, then the people that need to read it may not know they need to read it.
Report Post »tjdavid21444
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 3:55pmAnd of course they picked a couple of the easiest examples they could find. Why didn’t they tackle some IRS regulations? Those documents will make your head explode!
Report Post »anOpinion
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 4:43pmI think this is a good idea; try reading the health care bill.
Report Post »HEARDENOUGHCRAP
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 10:39pm“p8triot
Posted on October 18, 2010 at 8:48am
AstupidAmerican
Rick Sanchez sends his regards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laptaCg0BHA”
Isn’t it convienient how the left just seems to “forget” that they took over in Jan of 2007? That is when Farny Frank and Kiss Dodd took over the financial sections that had the meltdown. The Obamanation has tripled spending and honestly think we are too stupid to see it.
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