Fiscal Cliff and Lame Duck Session Will Produce Terrible Policies

Personal Freedom and Prosperity 110: A Predictable and Stable Legal Order

A government with moral and legal authority promulgates written rules and universally, impartially and uniformly enforces the rules, which provides a predictable and stable legal order on which to base economic and personal decisions.  The law prevails, not the proclamation or arbitrary decision of a ruler, government bureaucrat, the enforcer (e.g., policeman) or judge.

Fiscal Cliff and Lame Duck Session Will Produce Terrible Policies

In 2011, President Obama and Congress promulgated the “Fiscal Cliff.”  On January 1, 2013, tax rates will increase and spending cuts (actually slowing the increases) will be made to military and a variety of domestic programs.

The Fiscal Cliff was intented to be bad policy.  It was intended to force the President and Congress to convene after the 2012 election and rescind its legislation.  This is a violation of our Constitution and the intention of our 20th Amendment.  Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Boehner and McConnell (the Conniving Five) have intentionally excluded the American public from knowing and commenting on major policy decisions.  In 2010, Bruce  Ackerman of Yale Law called a Lame Duck session undemocratic and deplored its use for major legislation. 

It is utterly undemocratic for repudiated representatives to legislate in the name of the American people. Worse, the prospect of a lame-duck session encourages sitting politicians to defer big issues till after Election Day and thereby avoid scrutiny by the voters.

Already, these political machinations by the Conniving Five have wrecked havoc on America.  The Fiscal Cliff law has and will have an enormous impact on almost every taxpayer, thousands of government employees, hundreds of military contractors and the unemployed. 

For over a year, the Conniving Five created economic and political uncertainty.  Employers are not hiring when they are unsure of what their tax burden will be and have no idea what the Conniving Five will legislate before January 2013.  Governmental bureaucrats are still making up the rules for ObamaCare, and America presently does not have a stable and predictable legal order on which every American can reasonably make personal and economic decisions. This has not only discouraged but retarded economic growth.

Apparently, getting elected and being put into power trumped any interest for good governance.

From now through Christmas, the Conniving Five will negotiate and pander to their special-interest groups.  Already, President Obama has met with union leaders and complicit big business CEOs.  In government talks, the unions and CEOs are called stakeholders.  Tragically, the real stakeholders are We the People, and We are excluded from the negotiations.  This is immoral and will inevitably produce incompetent laws and policies.