Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ending the Federal Monopoly on Regulation
Townhall.com ^ | June 8, 2017 | Scott Rasmussen

Posted on 06/08/2017 7:34:40 AM PDT by Kaslin

Not too long ago, Democrats complained about Republican governors and state legislators using their authority to fight Obamacare. Now, those same Democrats are encouraging state and local officials to fight President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris treaty on climate change.

Such hypocrisy is, of course, bipartisan. Republicans who lauded state resistance to Obamacare are deeply troubled by state and local resistance to the Trump Administration on immigration and other issues.

The blatant hypocrisy is one of many factors contributing to a toxic political dialogue. The only way to reduce both the hypocrisy and the political tension is to do something that neither party wants to do when their team is in charge -- disperse power more broadly.

No matter how much the political class wishes it were true, one-size-fits-all solutions simply can't work in a wonderfully diverse society like the United States. Rules that make sense for life in Washington, D.C. or New York City are often absurd in Michigan or Colorado. To catch up with the reality of a decentralized pluralistic society, it is time to decentralize political power and shift ever more decision-making authority to state and local governments.

Unfortunately, America's political class has spent the last several decades going in exactly the wrong direction by centralizing power in a Regulatory State. Based upon the flawed premise that leaders in official Washington know what's best for the rest of us, they have worked to insulate the bureaucracy from any accountability to Congress and the American people. Such a regime is a fundamental rejection of our nation's historic commitment to freedom, self-governance, and equality.

While 21st century life does need a set of rules and regulations, the power to set them should be taken away from 285,000 distant bureaucrats and brought closer to home. Congress can put the American people back in charge by passing a simple modification to the federal rulemaking process.

Just about all federal regulations should be set to automatically expire after five years (allowing for a handful of exceptions like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission). As the regulations expire, they would instantly become state regulations. Each state would then have the responsibility for enforcing the regulations within their borders.

Just as important, each state would have the authority to modify the regulations to fit their particular circumstances. California and New York might make different modifications than Idaho and Texas, but that's a good thing because the states are so different.

The advantage to this approach is not that state regulators are wiser or more honorable than federal regulators. With the past 24 hours, I've had a run-in with some particularly idiotic regulations in my home state of New Jersey. But, when the rules are established on a state-by-state basis, the people hold the ultimate decision-making power.

That's because we have more power as consumers than we do as voters. While we rarely think of it, states are always competing for residents and businesses. The average American moves 12 times during their life and nearly half live in a different state from where they were born. Bad policies hurt a state's ability to compete and that reality places serious limits on state regulators.

To move America forward, we must end the arbitrary power of the Regulatory State. It's time to return power to the people.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: decentralization; regulation; statesrights

1 posted on 06/08/2017 7:34:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

>>Now, those same Democrats are...

The Brainworks of the farm?

Are you not aware it is for our benefit they eat all the apples and drink all the milk?

And remember: NO SLEEPING IN BEDS! err {edit} WIF SHEETS!


2 posted on 06/08/2017 7:42:37 AM PDT by HLPhat (It takes a Republic TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS - not a populist Tyranny of the Majority)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

At the root of the question is whether the democRATS can or will compromise with the will of the voters.

Answer....NO.

They will never accept anything less than absolute control/tyranny. Their agenda must prevail, all else be damned.

So what you see with the BLM, trannys, faggots and whomever is an attempt to thwart the will of the people by casting them as racists in an attempt to de-legitimize their position.


3 posted on 06/08/2017 7:48:17 AM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

So, this drooling moron doesn’t see the difference between a purely domestic matter and one involving treaties with foreign nations.


4 posted on 06/08/2017 8:19:07 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin; All
Thank you for referencing that article Kaslin. As usual, please note that the following critique is directed at the article and not at you.

"Not too long ago, Democrats complained about Republican governors and state legislators using their authority to fight Obamacare."

FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument

Mr. Rasmussen seems to be either clueless about, or is ignoring the constitutional reality that the states have never expressly constitutionally delegated to the feds the specific power to regulate, tax and spend in the name of INTRAstate healthcare.

In other words, Obamacare is based on stolen state powers and uniquely associated state revenues, such revenues likewise stolen by the corrupt feds by means of unconstitutional federal taxes.


5 posted on 06/08/2017 12:08:15 PM PDT by Amendment10
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson