A recent article in The Hill described the now-adjourned 113th Congress as historically unproductive, observing that few Congresses have sent less bills to a president in 20 years. This, Im afraid, reflects a common journalistic belief that when legislatures are passing legislation, theyre producing something valuable. But while its true that when oil wells produce oil, or gold mines gold or automobile factories cars, those entities are being productive, its not so clear that every time a legislature passes a law its producing something of value. In fact, theres good reason to suspect just the opposite. When Congress passes a law, it is pretty much always either limiting someones freedom or spending taxpayer money. Sometimes those are good things: The civil rights laws of the 1960s took away the freedom to engage in racial discrimination, and the spending of World War II and the Cold War defeated the evils of Nazism and Communism. But most congressional action doesnt rise to that level, and much of it — things like pork-barrel projects or bills that protect special interests from competition — is a net loss. Even worse, once legislation is enacted, it becomes very difficult to repeal. Thats too bad. Bills that are passed generally limit freedom or spend money; repealing laws generally expands freedom and saves money.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 19:00:01 +0000
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