Cross-Posted from DaleGlading.com
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Since Congress first met on March 4, 1789, at New York City’s Federal Hall, more than 30,000 different bills have been passed and enacted into law. That’s an average of 261 new laws for every biennial (two-year) congressional term.
Let me be the first to say, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
Or, to paraphrase the famous line from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre that was later co-opted by Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles, “We don’t need no [more] stinkin’ laws!”
If Congress as well as the Executive Branch would both start enforcing the existing laws on the books, that would constitute a full-time job for generations to come without adding a single new statute. But – and it’s a big but – they don’t enforce the very laws they passed and/or signed. So, please save us the hypocrisy of enacting new legislation for the sake of looking busy, because the American people aren’t fooled.
What’s the answer? Well, I would like to propose something revolutionary.
First, call a special session of Congress to repeal at least 1,000 laws. Then, do it again… and again… until there are 10,000 fewer federal laws on the books. And then, send everyone home and let them get a real job for six months.
Once Congress returns after their forced hiatus, require that five existing laws be repealed for every new law that is passed and enacted into law. It’s called pruning… and it works in both agriculture and business, so why not apply it to the legislative process?
As Rene Descartes once said, “[a] state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed.”
