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Comment by dsukhin | Hacker News Reader

The most insidious part of mega bills is the surprises that get snuck into them that I'd like to believe would have been adequately thought about and debated if someone actually had a chance to read them. The article suggests the CARES act itself is to blame and the 14k charges are "fees on these facilities to fund the FDA's regulatory activities". It wasn't meant to attack distillers but that didn't stop them from getting swept up in a provision that didn't belong in this bill in the first place.

How is a logical person supposed to reconcile a bill that was meant to help the country deal with an emergency is actually penalizing the companies that stepped up to help and charging them for the extra red tape?

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If Biden stops this nonsense, then he might become a good president. But wouldn't put my money on it.

Presidential orders are powerful but cannot override Congress. Not much Biden can do without Mitch's approval.

If it’s an executive agency discretion thing then Biden will waive it. Check back in a couple months, they’ll do it quietly.

And they've reversed it....

“Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government, not taxed for doing so. I’m pleased to announce we have directed FDA to cease enforcement of these arbitrary, surprise user fees. Happy New Year, distilleries, and cheers to you for helping keep us safe!” an HHS spokesman said in a statement provided to The Hill.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/532271-fda-hits-...

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what... Mitch McConnell is the Majority Leader of the Senate, one of the two bodies of representatives that makes up the Congress; he is also one of the two senators from Kentucky (and recently reelected)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_leaders_of_the_United_St... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell

Yes he is.

Congress encompasses both the House of Representatives, and the Senate, of which Mitch McConnell is a Senator.

> If Biden stops this nonsense

Can he do it on his own? It's it Mcconnell who is rushing these bills through to avoid close scrutiny?

Veto everything that's not sufficiently limited in scope? And say so in advance.

Many presidents have tried such things. Non have really succeeded. It is political suicide to veto a giant spending bill over most forms of pork.

If many have tried, did none of them learn from their predecessors? Or why did anyone after the first guy try it again if it was so obviously political suicide?

Edit: Ugh, sorry, I know what I just said is a fallacy. I just want to believe that making systemic improvements — getting Congress to operate on a better rule set — would be the thing which gets a person re-elected.

It seems bullying, lying, bribes, hookers and conspiracy theories is the bling today!

Then nothing gets done because you need majorities to override presidential vetos and the GOP gets to call you an obstructionist to rile up it's base for the next couple elections.

I agree with what you're saying, but even without a bunch of riders there are bills that become laws and parts of those laws eventually get struck down by the court system through litigation/challenges.

I don't know enough about this provision, but if a large enough distillery (of which I know many who have deep pockets) decides to fight the charge on behalf of other smaller distilleries, it could get struck down.

A large distillery might be happy that small competitors suffer death by regulation and thus do nothing to oppose this regulatory action.

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