So the parties will not be permitted to settle the terms between themselves. This will be done by rules. Obama has already warned of these rules "will be enforced." It is reassuring to know that the rules will ban "unfair practices" otherwise run might be at risk of arbitrary, bureaucratic control over private commerce. (Emphasis supplied)
The president in his announcement does not tell us how the constitutional responsibility of the Congress of the United States to make laws can be constitutionally handed off to unelected bureaucrats. Nor does he tell us the standards upon which practices will be determined to be "unfair." He does not tell us if the Congress of the United States will set the standards or simply abandon the field to apparatchiks.
In view of the Supreme Court's pusillanimity in fleeing from the Chrysler bankruptcy matter, one can have no grounds to hope that the Supreme Court will intervene to save our constitutional right of contract or the doctrine of separation of powers, and much less the federal principle that states should control real property transactions, and even less that the court would have the slightest concern for the preservation of capitalism.
Here is the relevant portion of the president's comments justifying my criticism that the federal government is in the process of prohibiting parties from entering into their own contracts (emphasis supplied):
This new agency will have the responsibility to change that. It will have the power to set tough new rules so that companies compete by offering innovative products that consumers actually want – and actually understand. Those ridiculous contracts – pages of fine print that no one can figure out – will be a thing of the past. You’ll be able to compare products – with descriptions in plain language – to see what is best for you. The most unfair practices will be banned. The rules will be enforced.
