Americans Beg for Mercy in Front of Unelected Bureaucrats

Quote of the Day: "A note to social engineers of all parties: If you have to protect 3 million people from a brand-new law, it probably wasn’t very well written in the first place." - John Sununu

Did you know that unelected bureaucrats are SELECTIVELY waiving some businesses from following the requirements of Obamacare?

Government by bureaucracy is one of the primary threats to liberty and prosperity. That is why the Write the Laws Act is part of the Downsize DC Agenda.

It is also why I wrote this letter to my Representative and Senators, and encourage you to do the same . . .

I understand that as long as The State exists, citizens will be subject to random judgment calls even by well-meaning government employees. I understand that life can be unfair.

But I was disturbed and angry when I read this article by John Sununu, a former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire: http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-25/bostonglobe/29813533_1_waiver-program-special-treatment-obamacare

According to Sununu . . .

* Department of Health and Human Services regulators had issued waivers exempting 1,400 companies from the harsh effects of Obamacare
* Whereas other companies were denied these exemptions, at the cost of some 150,000 jobs

Not even the Obamacare law granted HHS bureaucrats this arbitrary power. But, in the culture of Washington, D.C., they might plausibly say that the Obamacare law didn't PREVENT them from using this power.

In D.C....

* Elected members of Congress create "laws" which are frequently more or less guidelines
* Unelected bureaucrats enforce, or don't enforce, these "laws" as they see fit, and create regulations on their own

Should honest small business owners be subject to the arbitrary rules of unelected bureaucrats?

Or should Congress write ALL the rules we must live under, and limit the discretion of bureaucrats?

The Write the Laws Act requires that CONGRESS...

* Write all the rules
* Read all the rules
* Debate all the rules
* And vote into law all of the rules that you are required to obey

If you say that you don't have "time" to do all this, then THAT proves to me that you have very little knowledge or expertise in the industry you want to regulate.

Why, then, should I believe that YOU have sufficient knowledge to hire the best unelected "experts" to regulate MY life?

I object, fervently, to the idea that the government should regulate industry, and then dispense special exemptions when it pleases. That is the moral equivalent of begging a King for mercy.

And, I object, vehemently, to the idea that Congress can grant regulatory, coercive powers to unelected bureaucrats in the Executive Branch.

If Congress thinks it can control the economy or regulate my life, then at least it should be honest about it. Write the regulations yourself; as the Constitution requires. Giving broad powers and wide discretion to unelected bureaucrats is the equivalent of giving absolute power to a monarch with whom citizens must beg for mercy or special privilege.

Bureaucratic law-making violates the principles this Republic was founded upon. Repeal Obamacare, and pass the Write the Laws Act!

END LETTER

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

Are your friends aware that there's a way to prevent government by special favors -- favors such as these Obamacare waivers? Have they heard of the Write the Laws Act? Please tell them! Share this on Facebook and Twitter: http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/americans-beg-for-mercy-in-front-of-unelected-bureaucrats

James Wilson
Policy Research Director
DownsizeDC.org