From Radly Balko:
Congress needs to stop delegating so much lawmaking power to regulatory agencies. In fact, I don’t think it would be such a bad idea to force Congress to vote on every measly federal regulation it expects the rest of us to abide by.
Yes, anything to reduce the growth of the federal legislative and administrative rules library!
Matthew Yglesias wonders about scaling up Denmark’s welfare state model to larger countries:
The thing to say in response to this is that the Scandinavian countries are really little and it might not work as well in a big country, but I don’t understand what the causal mechanism for non-scalability is supposed to be. I’ll happily grant that it’s politically easier to put a Scandinavian-style system together in a small, homogeneous country, but that’s different from saying it wouldn’t work on the merits.
Tyler Cowan responds by noting a number of factors that might facilitate implementing Denmark scale programs that may not apply in larger countries, e.g.,
Perhaps the ability to dispense with federalism helps government efficiency in small countries. I favor federalism for larger units, such as the United States, but I think of it as a necessary evil. Singapore and New Zealand don’t have much federalism, nor should they.
This factor points us in the right direction.
Leaving aside the question of whether we really want the Denmark like social welfare programs implemented in the US, the very first step toward making this a possibility is to dispense with federalism in the US. No, not by centralizing all government function into the federal governement. Rather, by completely eliminating the federal goverment.
Yep, break the US up: into the current states, into 54 Denmarks by population, or into 223 Denmarks by land mass. Pick your method but break up the country. Not only will you get many opportunities to recreate Denmark’s social structure but you will also eliminate the many ills that result from the massive centralization of power and wealth in the current federal government.
Demonstrating that the voters made a good choice to kick them out of leadership the republicans reneged on their basic work as congress critters:
Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills,
Of course, they and the dems could complete this work quickly: delete everything that they do not have the revenue to pay for.
Scientists must experiment and kids will have fun!
Yes, the CPSC, your local city nannycrats and the narcothugs work hard to keep you from learning chemistry, shooting off fireworks and stopping your runny nose. In spite of these ill conceived efforts a little ingenuity and a trip to your local supermarket or convenience store can get you plenty of explosive goodies!
For instance here is what you can achieve with some Diet Coke and Mentos Mints. If they try to stop ya, well, just spray in their face.
How soon do you think the swat teams will be coming for these guys or for you? If you think never then perhaps you should consider Patri’s thoughts on the subject.
Via Tegan.
Update: Chemistry gone wrong–mixing Pepsi and Mentos. Via Solonor’s Inkwell via The Tree.
Here is one conference that has clearly failed in its mission:
Excellence in Government 2006 is the premier management conference for those who run our federal government. Each summer the largest assembly of federal officials comes together to develop and discuss best management practices and achieve success through innovative solutions.
Of course, success is relative to the definition of the goal.
Just think: your tax dollars probably pay the expenses for the attendees.
Update: I should have realized when I wrote the title that it was an oxymoron!