College government professors speak of three types of law:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Common Law: Evolved out of primitive efforts of past societies to bring order and justice to their dealings with one another. Legislators have long looked toward common law as a guide and Judges have long incorporated common law in developing precedent—unless the law has been changed by:
Legislative Law: In a representative republic, authority to make laws trickles up from the people. If an elected representative of the people does not consider the wishes of those that elected him/her; the representative should be defeated in the next election by the power of the voters. That is why a six-year term for Senators is unacceptable. Both Senators and Representatives should be limited to two four year terms.
Statutory Law: Regulations that often have the full force of law. People who craft regulations are not elected by the people, but can wield more power than any elected official. They are raping our country, draining our treasury and destroying the fabric of our society and most can not be fired. In concert with the their creator, the executive branch, they are close to rendering the legislative branch of our government moot.
Both conservatives and progressives should agree that in the best of all worlds, the judges, heads of public agencies, etc. appointed or hired by an elected president should be replaced when the voters express dissatisfaction and send a new president to cure the mistakes of the past administrations.
Unfortunately special interests have now metastasized throughout our federal government to the point they now hold the power instead of our elected officials. There exists no better example of how this works than that of Lois Lerner, who used the power of IRS to help destroy the so-called “enemies of the state.” There is no better example of the failure of checks and balances than the inability of congress to bring her or those that directed her to justice.
To understand the difference between common law and statutory law go here.
Decades ago we were warned that the statutory monster could escape its chains and destroy the very fabric of our system. The only thing that kept it chained was a system of checks and balances the citizens of our country depended on to work. An executive branch and a judicial branch that are intent on following the rule of law and the constitution are essential components in the system our founders set up.
An executive branch that believes they are better able to determine the best interests of the country than the great unwashed masses that vote are able to permanently seed the administrative process with their ideological mini-me’s.
Activist judges can be appointed that rubber stamp the illegal “laws” passed through regulations. If you are happy that you elected someone who is able to do this, wait until the shoe is on the other foot.
It should be obvious to the most disinterested student of history and government that our system of checks and balances has been completely short-circuited. This is possible only because:
- 1. There are legislators whose dedication to special interests is so great they are unwilling to rock the boat and curb executive abuse. Elected politicians (of both parties) are more intent on protecting their jobs and their power base than in following the will of the people.
- 2. An activist judiciary that is willing to rewrite laws to suit an agenda. The magic keyword you want to run from at all cost if judges are elected in your part of the country is any judge espousing “a living constitution.” Remember, this sword cuts both ways.
In a ninety day period running up to the presidential election of 2012, there were 6,124 regulations and notices posted on the federal government’s regulations.gov website.
The only way to pull the fangs on the statutory monster is to remove the ability of the federal government to stick their noses into matters that have already been adequately addressed and regulated by the states. We must encourage congress and the senate to pass a law restricting the federal government from regulating or interfering with the states on matters where the state already has an agency to do the same thing. For example, the State of Texas has an Environmental Quality Agency, a State Board of Education, and a State Board of Insurance. We license everything from barbers to doctors, lawyers to real estate brokers and agents. There is no need whatsoever to add another level of bureaucracy.
If we cut out costly duplications, we not only return the power of regulation to the states, we stop paying for regulation at both the state and federal levels. By cutting out this wasteful duplication, we might also cut the federal deficit and divert the money to more essential needs. The government has long played us by pretending they must cut essential services if we don’t bow to pressure and permit them to have free rein.
Recognizing how far we have strayed from the issue of local and state control, ten states have taken steps to start the process of reining in the federal government by calling a convention of states. I was disappointed that my state of Texas has not yet jumped on board, but hopefully citizens of Texas will demand they do so.
Problem is, most voters are too busy with their lives to take the bit in their teeth and demand change that works. If we insist our legislators in Washington curb their power to those not enumerated by the states, we automatically return the power closer to ourselves.
please leave your comments below.