Never underestimate human ingenuity in response to incentives

Reader comment on: The House of Repeal

Submitted by Marc Segan (United States), Dec 24, 2014 06:57

At first blush a splendid idea. Until you start to consider the unintended consequences. Then we see it's a goofy fantasy and a truly dumb idea.

The lawmakers, now knowing legislation can seemingly be more readily repealed, start selling new laws like mad, making deals with the so-called repealers regarding which ones are serious, don't-touch-that laws and which are allowable fodder for death-by-campaign contribution. The mad sausage shop goes into 24/7 production. The "wurst" of all possible worlds and a formula for a whole new level of legislative churn.

Congress has plenty of authority to repeal right now. It's OUR job, the numbskull voters, to wake up (assisted perhaps by a freshly responsible press -- good luck with that!), and hold our legislators accountable at the voting booth.

We don't need to put together whole NEW powerful governmental structures -- obviously ones requiring a huge Consitutional amendment. If, otoh, the idea is really to highlight the notion that hey, repeal is an option we take too infrequently, then fine. If an actual proposal, we're on the wrong spacecraft.

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