Opinion: The Senate accidentally agreed to move our clocks forward. Blame Putin. - Millbank
Even in the best of times, the place never runs like clockwork. This week, things got so bad that the chamber acted to move the hands of time by accident. The Senate approved legislation making daylight saving time year-round. There were no hearings, no discussion, no debate, and no vote. It just happened, because nobody objected in large part because many senators didnt even know it was happening.
It took just 14 seconds to approve an order moving Americans clocks an hour ahead, permanently. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) rose, requested that S. 623 be discharged from the Senate Commerce Committee, which hadnt approved it, then said: I ask unanimous consent that the Rubio substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), the presiding officer, was complicit in the scheme. She quickly declared without objection, so ordered and then, in her latest breach of decorum, stage-whispered yes! into the microphone and pumped two celebratory fists. Rubio and Sinema had pulled a fast one. A proposal with only 18 co-sponsors cleared the body in a New York minute. Neither the Democratic whip nor the Republican whip in the Senate knew it was happening. And the Senate has no way to claw back the bill, so it goes to the House which hopefully will be a bit more deliberative before messing with Father Time.
Reporting by The Posts Paul Kane and BuzzFeeds Paul McLeod indicates Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), top Republican on the Commerce Committee, had planned to object to the unanimous consent request to pass what he calls bad legislation, but decided not to at the last minute because hes focused on more pressing matters, such as the war in Ukraine. In other words, its Vladimir Putins fault that our clocks may change. Staff for other senators had been informed by Rubios office about the time-change hustle, but word didnt reach many of the members perhaps because people wrongly thought Wicker would handle the objection. It was a timely reminder: You snooze, you lose.
Public-health advocates were caught napping. Though proponents of the change say it will be good for commerce and 20 states have already endorsed the move, theres evidence that the time change, resulting in dark mornings, would be bad for childrens learning. Its certainly bad for the legislative process. Things are so awful these days that lawmakers celebrate when they achieve even routine stuff, such as keeping the government running. If senators start to think they can sneak significant bills to passage without a vote, the small store of trust that remains in the chamber would quickly dissipate. Would Democrats add a few Supreme Court justices? Would Republicans declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election? Would Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unilaterally declare war on Russia?
More..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/18/senate-daylight-saving-time-vote-accident
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I have already emailed my House representative urging him to not approve it in the House.
Blues Heron
(5,932 posts)Changing the clocks sucks for one day a year. DST sucks all winter. Not worth the payoff of avoiding the clock change for 1 day.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Hopefully the House tells Sinema go take a flying leap year.
Blues Heron
(5,932 posts)they foisted this on us with trickery.
Rebl2
(13,506 posts)to DST year around. Sun wont come up until nine in the morning where I live during winter-no thank you. I have already read several times we tried it in 1974 and people hated it. Someone in my local newspaper editorial page suggested just changing the clock each fall and spring by just a half hour. Surely they were joking. I have also read doctors say standard time is more in tune with our bodies. Never heard it explained, so dont know if its true.
Blues Heron
(5,932 posts)it was a million times worse than a single day of 1 hour time loss.
I was a jr. in high school. Waited for the bus in the dark. I think these days, kids in high school go earlier than we did and they wait for the bus in the dark too. Didnt like hearing one our meteorologist on tv say it will stay dark until 9am. Nope. Dont like that.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)It was horrible. And yes, for some reason, they made it worse on the high school kids (which I was) - we started school even earlier.
Chipper Chat
(9,678 posts)And my flux capacitor hasnt worked properly since.
SCantiGOP
(13,870 posts)Sneederbunk
(14,290 posts)Chipper Chat
(9,678 posts)But it seems hes in the wild West with Doc
OnDoutside
(19,956 posts)Scrivener7
(50,949 posts)"dark mornings would be bad for children's learning" then it's a dumb thing to begin with. There's nothing out there to support that school works better when the sun is shining. DST began as a way to save energy. If that is no longer a factor, why are we doing it?
But, yuck, that puts me agreeing with Rubio.
ChazInAz
(2,569 posts)She should know better, if she really was an Arizonan.
There's a reason Arizona doesn't do DST: when temperatures can get up to 120° in the Summer, you don't want the days to last any longer!
question everything
(47,479 posts)morning hours.
ChazInAz
(2,569 posts)Shakespeare in Tucson's Reid Park outdoor Demeester auditorium in June each year. Sweating in Elisabethan leathers and velvets, with the concrete stage still an oven at 8:00 PM!
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Quite the opposite.