I’m voting for the candidate who promises less new laws. Failing that, the candidate who proposes the smallest number of new laws.
They way I figure it, we’ve got enough of ’em.
New rule.
Published by Waldo Jaquith
Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more » View more posts
Well, there went the Democrats, then. ;)
Chris,
That’s a myth that sounded pretty good 5 years ago but has fallen flat since then. Republicans want just as many if not more laws than Democrats. The difference is that Dems tend to want laws that are intended to provide services to the public while Republicans tend to want laws that restrict and regulate individuals’ behavior without providing any service. Democrats like to pass laws that regulate the behavior of large corporations, while Republicans like to pass laws that weaken individuals’ power with regard to their relationships with large corporations.
The least that one could say for the Republican approach in the past was that hey, at least their approach is cheaper. Except that since the advent of GOP monopoly power we now know for certain that Republican pork costs far more than Democratic pork did. Republicans just hide it by running a monster defecit, which of course only makes their pork more expensive since we’ll be paying interest as well.
ATA,
I agree with you wholeheartedly; I was just making a playful stab. I can’t believe the fact that the Republicans have expanded goverment as much as they have. Neocons are not conservatives, by any means. Preachin’ to the choir, although I know you weren’t aware. :) I’m pretty much libertarian now. Either way, I’ll get my ass taxed off, but if that’s going to hell in a handbasket no matter which party, I’ll side with the people more socially liberal. At least then I’ll be somewhat free and broke, instead of suppressed and broke ;)
You mean you’re not going to vote for Leslie? I was looking forward to the day when I could tell my in-laws it was illegal for them to sleep on the couch.
Let’s see how many new laws her opponent proposes. Then we’ll talk.
Waldo,
I read a proposal once that suggested that all laws should have a sunset clause and a rationale for how the law is unique (meaning, not duplicating previous law). In this way the job of Congress would be primarily to review expiring laws for renewal and amend them as needed. Imagine how that would change the character of the legislature!