MOTHER-Mucking Senators

As I noted in my column , one of the bills Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid included in the omnibus legislation that Republicans blocked on Monday was the MOTHERS Act . MOTHERS is supposed to stand for Mom’s Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression. But it doesn’t. The acronym for that would be MOAHERSPD , which is not quite as catchy. This is yet another illustration of a sad decline in legislative names, which seem to be getting lamer and lamer in recent years.  Seven years ago, when the sponsors of a post-9/11 anti-terrorism bill dubbed it the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, I thought the name was ridiculously contrived. But at least the acronym actually fit. Likewise the PROTECT Our Children Act , also included in Reid’s package; the bill’s full name is the Pr...