Rule of Law in the Regulatory State
7th August 2015
Hint: It ain’t happenin’.
The United States’ regulatory bureaucracy has vast power. Regulators can ruin your life, and your business, very quickly, and you have very little recourse. That this power is damaging the economy is a commonplace complaint. Less recognized, but perhaps even more important, the burgeoning regulatory state poses a new threat to our political freedom.
What banker dares to speak out against the Fed, or trader against the SEC? What hospital or health insurer dares to speak out against HHS or Obamacare? What business needing environmental approval for a project dares to speak out against the EPA? What drug company dares to challenge the FDA? Our problems are not just national. What real estate developer needing zoning approval dares to speak out against the local zoning board?
August 7th, 2015 at 09:05
“What real estate developer needing zoning approval dares to speak out against the local zoning board?”
Obviously the author has never followed local zoning issues; denial of re-zoning for commercial purposes is regularly–and often successfully–challenged in the courts. Many a family farm or undeveloped corner has fallen under the bulldozer because the local zoning board caved to the threat of a lawsuit. No wonder Starbucks and Walmart are springing up everywhere, even where people don’t want them. (Clarification: They want the business, they just don’t want it there.)