I Can Count Too

Yet another example of journalism that misses the point, a recent headline makes a big deal out of the number of pages in the health care bill. http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1109/Senate_bill_weighs_in_at_2074_pages.html?showall Sure, any bill that weighs in around the 2000 page mark is really long, but focusing only on page count doesn't really tell me anything.  The Senate version is longer than the House version, but both are around the 2000 page mark. That makes sense.  They are both more or less the same bill.  Some of the details will change from one version to the other, but they are both after the same general thing. Saying the Senate version is longer than the House version really tells us nothing.  It is no comparison. Try comparing it to other large pieces of legislation. I don't know, maybe something like the Patriot Act? It was a big controversial bill. I don't know if it was something that Senators and Representatives didn't read when they voted on it, but maybe a comparison to other bills would actually make the 2000 page statement mean something. If by some incredible twist of fate this is read by "the press", stop making meaningless shocking statements.  I can know almost all the story has to offer just by reading the headline. "Oooooooh, it's over 2000 pages." You grabbed my attention, now do something with it, and don't waste my time.