 |
| Search |
|
|
|
|
Home>Newsletter
|
|
CSGI Null's Nuggets
November 1, 2008 |
|
THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIVIDUAL
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
AT COLORADO SPRINGS
| |
|
|
|
| NULL'S NUGGETS
NOVEMBER 1, 2008
It is always surprising to me that people seem to have such high expectations of the U.S. Congress when poll after poll shows that they give very low ratings to this body when they are asked to evaluate its work. On the other hand, they think their congressman does good work.
Under the current election campaigning by the two major candidates for the Presidency both continue to accuse each other of the failure of oversight relating to the financial crisis. Clearly the public is searching for the appropriate person to blame (the President or the Congress or both). Unfortunately the public seems unaware that the Congress isn't simply capable of doing such a job! In the first place, of the 535 members of both houses, how many of them know any significant amount of economics or for that matter how the government's financial system works?
Our Founding Fathers deliberately established a limited system of government to ensure the greatest amount of liberty for us all.
The United States Congress was structured as a deliberative body, not a decision making body. One house can check the other from action.
The President can veto a bill from both houses. Within each house the party in power in those houses controls what legislation moves forward. A chair can stop any piece if legislation from being considered. On the other hand, abnormal majorities are required (2/3, 3/4, etc.) to stop action in either house or a house's attempt to override vetoes by the president. The same kinds of majorities must be used to stop a filibuster from proceeding. Of course a requirement of an abnormal majority gives the power to the minority. A 2/3 requirement gives to the opposition the right to defeat legislation with 34 % of the vote! An omnibus piece of legislation comes out of congress on the average every 8 to 10 years. They need that long to deliberate about such complex legislation. Have you ever seen such a piece of legislation not have a large number of complexities that are usually resolved by the court system? Remember that there were very few functions for the national government to provide when our nation began! Do we really want Congress managing our finances for us? Be careful what you wish for! You might just get it!
Dr. James a. Null
CSGI Executive Director
| |
|
CSGI, the foundations for understanding and analyzing diverse perspectives of the appropriate role of government, its limitations and restrictions
The Center for the Study of Government and the Individual resides at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. The general public and any of the faculty and students of the schools and colleges at UCCS interested in research and teaching activities related to government and the individual may participate in its activities. Dr. James A. Null is the Executive Director and is administratively responsible for the oversight of the Center.
The purpose of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual is to provide a vehicle for the candid, open, diverse and multi-faceted exploration of all the issues in this topic area in all of their dimensions. Its purpose is to stimulate the confrontation of all orthodoxies in regard to the role of government in American social and economic systems.
|
| Please email us at csgi@uccs.edu with comments and suggestions for future issues. | | |
CSGI's spring and fall programs will be announced shortly. |
| | | |
| |
URL: http://www.uccs.edu/csgi/nuggets0501.shtml
|
|
|
|
Printer page
Email article
Top of Page