Congress’ Real Problem: They’re Letting Regulators Become Legislators

blog.heritage.org ^ | 3/3/14 | Rich Tucker

[cotton1706]

Washington D.C. won’t have John Dingell to push around much longer.

The venerable Democrat, who’s been in the House of Representatives since 1955, is preparing to retire and hand his family’s seat (his father held it before him, having been elected in 1932) to his wife. But he’s not doing her any favors.

In recent years the problem isn’t that lawmakers have left the House. It’s that they’ve stopped being lawmakers. Nobody has kept Dingell – and his 434 elected colleagues — from legislating. The fact that they don’t legislate is a self-inflicted wound. Congress has willingly given up much of its lawmaking authority.

“In terms of actual policy, most of the action is located in administrative agencies and departments, not in the Congress and the President as is commonly thought. Unelected bureaucrats—not elected representatives—are running the show,” scholar Joe Postell notes.

Consider several of the items Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus listed in a recent column headlined, “Losing the art of legislating as John Dingell retires”:

•Clean Air: Lawmakers are happy to pass policymaking about carbon dioxide to the EPA.

•Education Reform: Lawmakers allow the Obama Administration to offer waivers to replace the Congressionally-passed No Child Left Behind with Common Core.

•Health Care: Lawmakers enacted Obamacare, but the bill was more aspiration than law. Much of the actual policy is being crafted by the Department of Health and Human Services. For his part, President Obama has felt free to issue waivers at will.

•Telecommunications: The FCC is aggressively trying to expand its domain. It recently floated a plan to put observers in newsrooms, even those of newspapers and Web sites (which the agency doesn’t even regulate).

The Constitution established a federal government of limited but enumerated powers.

[cotton1706]

"To work, it requires lawmakers who are jealous of their power to make law. If many long-serving Representatives are getting bored, maybe it’s because they stopped being lawmakers years ago."

Intentionally changing the United States from a democratic republic to an aristocratic republic. See my book:

http://www.amazon.com/This-Republic-Illuminating-Republican-Government/dp/0991117506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393945020&sr=8-1&keywords=this+republic

[Sherman Logan]

So you got a copyright complaint from yourself, did you?

[WayneS]

Not to mention letting presidents become legislators...

[cotton1706]

Haha. No. But it’s nice to see others seeing the same things and coming to the same conclusions.

[Paulie]

Actually, Congress exempts itself from all consequences of their actions or inactions. It’s We the People who have the problem; it’s us who is facing tyranny, not them.

[Adder]

Unelected bureaucrats—not elected representatives—are running the show,”

And First Ladies, apparently...Wookie Wegulations and “Let’s Puke!” campaigns!

[edcoil]

Congress has given up its power and job years ago - look at he base closings and blue ribbon committees as opposed to making decisions.

We have had republicans running the budget for a couple years now and I see no improvement in government.

[circlecity]

The USSC really needs to revisit the legal issue of administrative rulemaking as an unconstitutional delegation of power.

[Starboard]

We have had republicans running the budget for a couple years now and I see no improvement in government.

*************

The Republican Pary is by and large just a big political club content with upholding the status quo, as long as they get a few crumbs from the table. It will never be a force for good as most people seem to naively believe. They are a very big part of the problem. We desperately need a new party with true conservative convictions.

[Buckeye McFrog]

All by design.

They get all of the statist control with none of the accountability.

[PGalt]

Regulators (UNaccountable bureaucrats/socialists) are the derivatives of calculating collectivists, CONgre$$.

He has [They have] erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

DISMANTLE socialist/totalitarian collectives masquerading as government.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

You are right. If we could force the regulators to sign their name to each illegal reg they write, it would go far to stop this BS. I saw this over 40 years ago and saw what was coming to every other business. Unaccountable power like absolute power corrupts.

[PGalt]

Our Real Problem: Regulators Are Derivatives of CONgre$$.

BIG GOVERNMENT IS CRONY COLLECTIVISM

DISMANTLE

[Buckeye McFrog]

Are you suggesting a publication or website that publishes names and home addresses of freedom-sucking, power-abusing Washington bureaucrats?

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

Yes. Bring out of the shadows, like roaches they can’t stand the light.

[Graewoulf]

Excellent thread! Thanks!

[Sergio]

bkmk

[familyop]

It would have been a great piece without so much political campaigning with mentions of “Obama...Obama...” Many potential voters tired of that long ago and went nonpolitical. Both sides in politics have been regulating too much for decades and robbing others.

For example, the mess of planning and zoning regulations in sparsely populated areas. No one needs them. There’s nearly no building happening. Potential buyers are hiring private inspectors to duplicate efforts anyway.

And zoning laws against manufacturing in the middle of nowhere. That’s insane. There are no “property values,” and the “riff-raff” are generally more moral than those trying to keep them out of homes.

Political activities are pursuits mostly of remaining political/regulator class folks, and realize it or not, they’re all hard socialists.

[familyop]

"I saw this over 40 years ago and saw what was coming to every other business. Unaccountable power like absolute power corrupts."

The manager in the place of my first job (a supermarket) lectured me and fellow employees about it in 1973, right after the fuel price hike then (regular gas from 23.9 to 49.9 in one night there). He was highly educated and extremely honest, open and detailed about it.

Everything that he told us and much more has come to pass. Generally, he described a downsizing of the whole production part of the economy following by distribution, etc., to eventually eliminate those of us perceived as unsightly and noisy (more of us than most people would think: the middle class then, the middle class in between and the middle class now).

Many who are preparing to defend their suburbs against "zombies" are, in fact, going to have their incomes cut before long (including pensions, with bond investors not being the only ones heading for "haircuts"). Most employees in various levels of government will be tossed before long to top it all off for the "sustainable" economy to come.