ShmoopTube

00:04

[Dino and Coop playing music]

00:13

What would the U.S. be like if anyone could pass any law they wanted? [Question mark flag]

00:18

Well, if someone thinks mushrooms are gross, they'd simply outlaw mushrooms entirely! [Mushroom pizza]

00:22

Sick of hearing annoying music on the radio? [Person adjusting radio]

00:24

Ban music, full-stop!

00:26

Don't like when people snort when they laugh? [Person snorts and laughs]

00:28

Well then, why not make it illegal to laugh at all? [Police arrive]

00:30

Things would get out of control pretty quickly, and before long,

00:33

no one would be allowed to do anything. [Person crying in jail]

00:35

Thankfully, you can't just waltz into the Oval Office and make a law. [Guard becomes angry]

00:38

…You could try to tango, but we have a feeling that wouldn't work either. [People dancing]

00:42

And the process of making a law?

00:44

It isn't exactly easy. [Proposed law on conveyor belt]

00:45

See, it all starts with a proposed law, which either the House or the Senate writes up in

00:49

the form of a bill. [Bills exit machine]

00:51

Once the bill is written, it has to be sent over to whichever one of the two didn't make

00:55

it, in order to receive approval with a two-thirds majority vote. [Person enters office with bill]

00:59

Must be nice being able to approve or deny bills sent to you.

01:02

We're always stuck paying full price at Red Lobster. [Man holds bill]

01:05

Anyway, the process is a whole lot easier said than done, but we'll pretend for a moment

01:09

that everyone always gets along and it all goes according to plan. [People dancing]

01:13

Dare to dream, right? [Person dreaming]

01:14

Once it's approved, the bill makes its way to the most powerful person in America in

01:18

order for them to approve and sign it.

01:20

Yup, the one, the only…the Preeee…janitor?

01:23

What are you doing in the President's chair? [Larry sits happily]

01:25

Ughhh Larry's the worst…

01:27

Anyway. The President gets final approval. [President signs bill]

01:30

Once the president takes a look at it and approves it, then that bill turns into a law.

01:34

Of course, the president doesn't have to approve it if they don't want to…but they'll need

01:38

some pretty convincing constitutional reasons.

01:40

"I don't like the ugly font you used, rewrite it in Impact." [President disapproves]

01:43

And if they do deny it, then it goes back to whichever body made it with a list of the president's objections,

01:49

giving them an opportunity to modify it based on those objections. [Modified bill exits machine]

01:52

If all those objections are addressed – and both houses give it a two-thirds majority

01:56

vote - well hey, then we've got ourselves a shiny new law. [New law sparkles]

02:00

Of course, getting everyone to agree on turning a bill into a law is never as easy as it sounds.

02:05

In fact, it's probably even more difficult than trying to get an entire family to agree

02:08

on where to eat for dinner. [Child makes suggestion]

02:09

And as anyone with siblings knows, that's basically a never-ending battle. [Other child disagrees]

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