Bad Laws Pass Fast

I know I'm supposed to be commenting on the details of the new economic bailout/recovery plan here, but in fact, I know my own limitations. And one of those limitations is admitting that economics on a national or international scale is beyond me. My actual belief is that it's beyond anybody -- that the "science" of economics is nothing short of voodoo.

Consider: on any given day, you can find an economist who will tell you the future looks great, and another one who is predicting doom and gloom. Looking back later, you can find economists who accurately predicted what was going to happen, and other economists who were wildly wrong. The problem is they're not consistent. One economist who gets things right in one crisis will likely be wrong in the next one.

That's not science, that's throwing a dart at a wall. If it truly were "scientific" then you would expect to see some sort of verifiable results, but time and again the markets surprise the professionals who are supposed to be watching them.

But I will say one thing about the plan that is being floated by Bush and Congress right now -- laws that pass quickly almost always turn out to be bad ones. Think USA PATRIOT Act (sorry for "shouting" in all caps, but that's the official name of the law, since it's an acronym). Almost every time there is a "crisis" or an "emergency" the politicians in Washington are whipped into a fever of "We have to act -- now!" and what we usually wind up with is bad laws that have unintended consequences down the road that nobody foresees. Because there simply wasn't time to think about the consequences in the rush to passage.

Allow me to quote from Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series, who created a future "Bureau of Sabotage" (and the incomparable Jorj X. McKie, Saboteur Extraordinary) in books and short stories. Herbert's "BuSab" exists to slow down government processes. As Herbert explains in Whipping Star:

Once, long centuries past, sentients with a psychological compulsion to "do good" had captured the government. Unaware of the writhing complexities, the mingled guilts and self-punishments, beneath their compulsion, they had eliminated virtually all delays and red tape from government. The great machine with its blundering power over sentient life had slipped into high gear, had moved faster and faster. Laws had been conceived and passed in the same hour. Appropriations had flashed into being and were spent in a fortnight. New bureaus for the most improbable purposes had leaped into existence and proliferated like some insane fungus.

Government had become a great destructive wheel without a governor, whirling with such frantic speed that it spread chaos wherever it touched.

Now, the normal process of Congress and the White House passing laws is usually pretty sedate. One might even use the word "glacial." And it is frustrating when you want to see something get done to have to urge your pet legislation through endless committee meetings and discussions and debates and procedural votes. Normally, in other words, citizens would probably be a little happier if government did work a little faster.

But there's a reason for the delays. They allow critical examination of whatever is being proposed. And the laws that evolve as a result of such are (theoretically, at least) improved as a result.

Which is why I am always leery of laws that ram through Congress with little or no debate because there's "a crisis" which must be dealt with. Lawmakers are (1) desperate to "do something" to show the voters back home they're on top of things, and (2) are usually well-meaning in whatever they're attempting to do. But that doesn't mean that they sometimes pass some really bad laws as a result.

Think about it -- we're debating a plan which will give mountains of taxpayer money to the same people who three weeks ago were not warning us of imminent disaster. They didn't see it coming. They were, in a word, incompetent at doing their jobs. All of a sudden it becomes a full-blown "emergency" which must be acted upon within days (if not hours) or else the Great Depression is going to return in the middle of next week.

All I'm saying is that with a plan this gigantic, perhaps legislators in Washington need a little time to debate the relative merits of the plan, and perhaps attempt to vet it a little bit instead of just blindly rushing to pass it in the next twenty minutes.

Because -- from my experience at least -- bad laws usually are the ones that pass the fastest.

 

Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com

 

Comments

[sdskelton03]

Chris

I would like to add to your well thought out commentary.

We seem to be in a position that has left us with few good options. It will cost us $1,000,000,000,000
to buy up all of these crappy loans. This will further devalue the dollar, raise the national debt and bail out entities that by all means should pay for thier mistakes. This is clearly a loss for all of us.

We could choose to let the market handle it and not bail out these entities. This would bring the credit market to a halt and lead to a real black friday situation. I'm not talking about politicians bitching for votes. I'm talking about a 15-20% reduction in GDP and a Dow average of about 60% its current level. That would certainly be a loss for all of us.

Let's just pray the government figures this thing out. The sad thing is, I don't think they know how to solve it either.

[philistine]

"Let's just pray the government figures this thing out. The sad thing is, I don't think they know how to solve it either."

They don't. We're in for a rough ride, and I don't think that the silk-suited, tinkle-down racketeers that saddled the bull for us should be rewarded for their efforts.

[Michale32086]

Here is the problem with the Democratic Party.

By and large, the entire Democratic Party is a reactive organization. The party's entire foundation simply prohibits it from being proactive.

Why, you ask??

Simple. To be PROACTIVE, a person or organization must have the mindset to IMPOSE their will on others. The very foundation of the Democratic Party is diversity and acceptance. This very nature simply prohibits the aggressiveness that would be necessary to be proactive.

History certainly bears this out. When times are good, no proactive or pre-emptive actions are necessary. Hence, Democrats flourish.

When times are bad and proactive and pre-emptive actions are required, then it's the GOP that flourishes..

When times are tough,Democrats can ONLY be successful if they act like Republicans.

The Democratic Party's biggest strength when times are good is it's biggest weakness when times are not so good.

Now, of course, the converse is also true.

But, in the hear and now, times are tough. The very real threat of terrorism, the economic meltdown, North Korea, Iran, etc etc etc all point to tough times.

And John Q Public wants a PROACTIVE government in these tough times.

Michale¦..

[Michale32086]

}}}}}}}}}}
History certainly bears this out. When times are good, no proactive or pre-emptive actions are necessary. Hence, Democrats flourish.
{{{{{{{{{{

That should read, "MODERN/RECENT History certainly bears this out."

My bust...

Michale....

[DickTater]

Here is the problem with the Republican Party....
Everything.

Take your crap elsewhere. Coming around here talking about what's wrong with dems is so 1990s. Your ilk is about to be Tarred and Feathered for the next few generations.

[philistine]

What good is PROACTIVE if PROACTIVE means proactively making the wrong decisions? When you've dug yourself into a hole, the first rule is to stop digging.

How can a man of SO many words such as yourself expound so little truth?

[Michale32086]

}}}}}}}}
What good is PROACTIVE if PROACTIVE means proactively making the wrong decisions?
}}}}}}}}

And yet, there hasn't been a terrorist attack on US proper in over 7 years.

Doesn't seem like many WRONG decisions are being made there, eh?

}}}}}}}}}}
How can a man of SO many words such as yourself expound so little truth?
}}}}}}}}}

If you want "truth", take up philosophy.

I am discussing FACTS.

Michale.....

[Sundialsvc4]

They also pass as multi-thousand page documents that no one actually reads.

For example, the legislation that enabled Enron (authored by the man who soon will be the all-powerful Treasury Secretary under King John...) was 270-odd pages buried in what was supposed to be a "spending bill" that totaled several thousand pages.

(You can look this stuff up on http://thomas.loc.gov, the official Library of Congress web site.)

Now, PATRIOT itself is many hundreds of pages, and I assure you that no one sat down to start writing the thing on September 12th.

I don't know what kind of Constitutional amendments must be put into place to alter or to restrain these abuses, but I do know that nothing at all is ever going to happen so long as law enforcement itself can be "off the table."

[XME]

Fool Congress once, shame on GWB.
"Must act NOW...no time to think about it!"
GWB regarding the urgency to approve the Patriot Act

Fool Congress twice, shame on Congress.
"Must act NOW...no time to think about it!"
GWB regarding the urgency to approve invading Iraq due to WMDs

Fool Congress a third time, shame on all of us!
"Must act NOW...no time to think about it!"
GWB regarding the urgency to approve giving ONE man $700 billion in tax dollars to dispurse at his disgression with no ability to hold him accountable

[wanked]

Think Iraq War!

[RumiSouth]

As Naomi Klein pointed out today, the speed behind these bills is part of the Shock Doctrine. The bad bill is pushed with a deliberate sense of emergency. Paulson's been on TV all weekend telling us Congress has only one week to pass the bill or it's DOOM, DOOM, DOOM! (please excuse the all caps shouting, but the real sense of his bluster had to be portrayed.)

A look inside this bill reveals the ulterior motive for the speed he wants: the bill would make Paulson a unitary executive over the bailout. There would be zero oversight or review of his actions. The taxpayers would get stuck with all that worthless paper while he hands out golden parachutes to his friends (yes, friends) on Wall Street.

I have a three-word slogan to suggest for this bailout: JUST SAY NO.

[sdskelton03]

What would be the economic ramifications of not bailing out the financial sector, and how would that be better than what is planned now?

[thecanadian]

Great job. Don't worry about the rest - you certainly got the "meat" out for all of us!

[DickTater]

Don't feel bad if you don't understand national or international finance Chris.....the guys running our system and republicans in general don't understand anything about it either.

They do understand Big Thievery. Corporations First, Always Screw the Little Guy. How to scrape all of our money into huge piles, then raid it. They understand that. But not governance, not accountability, not rules or moderation.

[GOP4MoreTears]

Bingo,

[philistine]

The timing of this "crisis" stinks to high heaven. These systemic problems existed before last week, and will continue to exist two months from now. Paulson, former denizen of Wall Street, one of the neoliberal pond scum that brought this mess upon us, is now trying to soften the landing of his cronies before the White House changes hands and the composition of Congress changes for the worse (from his standpoint). His plan makes him God of the financial industry, with no oversight from the Legislative branch. This sounds suspiciously like the Unitary Executive's wet dream. Congress must reject this travesty out of hand, and pass a bill that is more favorable to the poor bottom-dwellers like you and me.

Like you, I am no economist. Unlike you, I think that some economists are better than others, but that the good ones have been ignored by the supply-side tinkle-downers in charge of this madhouse. I think it's time for the tinkle-downers to p1ss off, and to get what's coming to them.