The process of lawmaking begins with the Introduction of the bill, usually to the speaker, who then proceeds to refer the bill to a House committee. The bill at this point may get multiple referrals before proceeding to the third step, a house subcommittee, where over 90% of bills die. At this point in the subcommittee there may be multiple hearings, the bill may also go through a process of markup where the bill is literally marked up, amended, and debated. The final stage of the third step is to vote on the bill but just at the subcommittee level. The fourth step of the lawmaking process returns the bill back to a standing full committee where a process of and plethora of hearings, markups, and votes take place on the bill. If the bill passes the vote in the fourth step in the standing full committee it is much more likely to pass in the full house, it is at this point a committee report is produced and written by a full committee staff. The process of lawmaking is a somewhat tedious one. The documentary presented the very relative and present struggles of passing a bill, especially a partisan bill that may be particularly unpopular. The health care reform bill was destined to die at the third step mentioned in the first paragraph, but with the negotiation of tough democrats like Rahm Emanuel, backroom deals were made to assure the bills progress.
What it really seems is that the lawmaking process isn’t as black-and-white as it’s presented or as colorful as schoolhouse