One nation, under too many laws (I never read a better OpEd.)

Washington Post ^ | December 12, 2010 | Philip K. Howard

[neverdem]

America is choking on laws of our own making.

Once a law is in place in the United States, it's almost impossible to dislodge. Our political class assumes that, after a law is forged in the crucible of democracy, it should be honored as if it's one of the Ten Commandments - except it's more like one of 10 million...

--snip--

Sunset laws have been proposed from time to time, and they were a domestic priority for President Jimmy Carter. "Too many Federal programs have been allowed to continue indefinitely," he wrote to Congress in 1979, "without examining whether they are accomplishing what they were meant to do."...

--snip--

Americans know that the government is broken. According to a recent Clarus Research Group poll, 80 percent agree with that conclusion. By the same overwhelming majority, Americans also agree that the government "needs a basic overhaul" and should undertake "an annual 'spring cleaning' to eliminate unnecessary regulations and red tape."

Our founders never intended democracy to be a one-way ratchet, making laws but almost never unmaking them. Thomas Jefferson famously advocated small revolutions from time to time, believing that they are "as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. . . . It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." This is the medicine that America very much needs today.

[rockrr]

In my high school “Humanities” class my very liberal teacher asked the class what law they would pass if they could pass only one.

Most of the kids gave the standard suck-up responses but when she got to me I replied, “If I could only pass one law it would be that for every new law passed four would have to be eliminated”.

My lefty teacher was shocked, “Why on earth would you do such a thing?!”

“Simple” I explained, “We already have too many useless laws on the books. Tons of them don’t make any sense now, even if they ever made sense to begin with.”

“So Congress would have to pick four laws - at random if they like - and eliminate them. In due time they would get to the point where they would actually have to think about the laws they were enacting.”

She flunked me...;-)

[avoCAdos]

$100,000.00 * 0.08 = $8,000.00

[rockrr]

LOL. I just read your post after posting my #21 ;-)

[rdb3]

The we need to get something done syndrome. No, they need to get a lot Undone.

Exactly!

Runaway Slave

Apostle Claver tells the world how the real party of racism is the Democrats

[maddog55]

One nation, under too many laws..

Been saying that for years and I strongly believe being a member of Congress is at best a part time job. You get called in when there’s REAL problem like someone getting ready to attack us etc. Otherwise, sit on your ass and do NOTHING and America will once again prosper.

[zeestephen]

“Pedantry is unbecoming.”

---

That’s what I tell the IRS when I use the 0.35% rate on my income tax.

[LibertyLA]

Awesome post!

My feeling is we are choking under the weight of one insane law after another, and then they have to be enforced with specialized agents, or the local cops have to do it. It is why I no longer truly feel we are living in the free country that our founders gave us.

This is one of the biggest problems we have and is never discussed. Also, there is the claim that “ignorance of the law” is no defense - well, I’d say its a damn good defense nowadays!

[Tom D.]

Sunset laws have been proposed from time to time, and they were a domestic priority for President Jimmy Carter. "Too many Federal programs have been allowed to continue indefinitely," he wrote to Congress in 1979, "without examining whether they are accomplishing what they were meant to do."

Damn! Jimmy Carter did say something that made sense once.

[rfp1234]

I think the extra % sign was a typo.

[jocon307]

ping for later

[upchuck]

Bryan24 should have left the percent sign out of his formula. He meant 8%. Which I believe is too low. Prolly more like 20%.

Merry Christmas

[neverdem]

The answer to this is widespread non-compliance and armed resistance.

Thanks for the quote from Ayn Rand. Limited gov't being one of the primary aims of the Tea Party movement, I'd like the Tea Party movement to take up the issue of sunset laws and repealing a lot of the nonsense before we have to water the tree of liberty, IMHO.

[neverdem]

This should be the Tea Party’s cup of tea. I haven’t read anything in this forum against the Tea Party movement, so I’m pinging all my lists for this OpEd about sunset laws and repealing a lot of the nonsense that Congress just ignores once it is passed as a law. Jimmy Carter had one good idea!

[danielmryan]

She flunked me...;-)

No wonder why the others sucked up.

[RightField]

bump for later read

[Wonder Warthog]

"Damn! Jimmy Carter did say something that made sense once."

Concur. I'm amazed that there is even this ONE thing that I agree with Jimmuh on, but he was right on this.

[rellimpank]

--good one-

-ties in with my oft-stated comment that when I was a kid you often heard the phrase "it's a free country" and every now and then "there oughtta be a law"-- unfortunately , the second statement came to dominate---

[dynachrome]

One addendum I would putin, is that any repeal MUST be of the EXACT original bill or you would get crap like the extension of the current tax rates which seems to have turned into a porkfest.

[iceskater]

"Damn! Jimmy Carter did say something that made sense once."

Concur. I'm amazed that there is even this ONE thing that I agree with Jimmuh on, but he was right on this.

Stopped clocks and all that.

[Hardastarboard]

Our political class assumes that, after a law is forged in the crucible of democracy, it should be honored as if it's one of the Ten Commandments

Unless, of course, they're immigration laws. Then it's just mean old Republicans that want to keep the poor minority "undocumented future citizens" from crossing the border to a better life that only America's Socialist party (DemonRats) can provide.