Originally Posted by
ConHog
Originally Posted by
tailfins
All laws and regulations must expire in five years and must be re-enacted to remain in force.
So murder would have to be made illegal again every five years? Just as an example
Excellent idea with an excellent result.
Congress will be kept so busy re-enacting laws we actually need, they won't have time to micromanage the way they do now, passing miniscule laws to detemine toilet size, light bulb type, land zoning etc.
The Framers originally made lawmaking a very clumsy and cantankerous affair. Three very different groups (temporary citizen-legislators in the House, professional state-appointed politicians in the Senate, elector-chosen President) all had to agree, for something to become law. The reason they made it so clumsy, was beause they wanted a country governed by very few laws - the states and lower govts, and people themselves, could control all else.
Mandating a sunset date on ALL laws, would get us back toward that ideal.
"The social contract exists so that everyone doesn’t have to squat in the dust holding a spear to protect his woman and his meat all day every day. It does not exist so that the government can take your spear, your meat, and your woman because it knows better what to do with them." - Instapundit.com