Among the fascinating bigger issues here is the one about how and whether we can absorb large-scale, complex legislation ... a la Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and ObamaCare. They have incredible amounts of "unintended consequences" that are very negative.
Consider these quotes ... and then click on the New York Times column by Ross Douthat of Nov. 16 that also looks at points from Jonathan Rauch's 1999 book (Yes, 1999!), Government's End.
By James Madison, in Fedralist No. 62 (1788):
"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood ..."
By WSJ columnist Holman Jenkins (3/23/13):
"The argument for limited government is really an argument for not overburdening politicians. Leave as much as possible to the market, to the law of contracts, to the courts. Don't pile up on politicians more and more impossible choices they have to make on our behalf."
By NYT columnist Ross Douthat (11/16/13):
See the attached file, including ...
" .. Because our government spends and regulates so much ...
"... influence sprawls into so many walks of life ...
"... so many clients and beneficiaries and interest groups depend on its programs and policies ...
"... structural, not ideological ...
"... grows stronger the longer it's embedded in the federal apparatus, gaining constituents and interest group support ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-three-burials-of-obamacare.html
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Phil, I'll bet that this blog had a lot more hits than the other two! You still have that retailer's blood running through your veins... It wasn't quite 'bait and switch' but I'll bet that some of your readers expected something else! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
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