In the 111th Congress, much of what Congress is charged with doing or permitted to do was absent. In a large sense, the 111th Congress was a no-show. The only major piece of legislation they passed had no Constitutional authority and was done purely to placate the President and turn their backs on the citizenry. Yes, I'm talking about health care. Yesterday, the House voted 245-189 to repeal it. It's a start. It may not go any farther, but then the Courts - acting on a legal challenge of 26 of the states (more than half) - may strike it down anyway.
Where Congress can be effective in promoting the general welfare of the United States is by creating a strong stable economy and permitting offshore drilling, nuclear power plants, refineries, and other energy infrastructure.
So far they have abdicated their responsibility and let the Executive branch assume this role - clearly in violation of the specific language of the Constitution and the separation of powers.
The President has issued an order for no offshore drilling in the Atlantic. He had imposed a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf that now has been relaxed. He doesn't have these powers, but Congress goes along. BTW, the offshore drilling ban is 35 years old, only interrupted by George Bush in 2008 - with a precipitous drop in oil prices. When Obama was elected, the national average for a gallon of gas was just $1.69. Now, it's over $3 on its way to $4.
The EPA, part of the Executive branch, has acquired far-reaching powers in a quasi-legislative role, and Congress has been going along - until today. The House just announced that they are going to be scrutinizing the activities of EPA. EPA has been trying to implement cap and trade through policy and regulation even though it was never passed by the Senate (only the House) and isn't likely to become law at least for 2 years. The EPA also has the ionerous, ineffective Lead Paint rule,
They have enormous power that Congress has just let them have. Glad to see it may be taken from them - ideally all of it, but small measures are a welcome beginning. With less regulation comes a stronger economy due to private sector job formation and less government jobs necessary to enforce the unnecessary rules.
Let's let Congress do its job as outlined in Artile I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and let's keep the Executive branch out of legislative and regulatory issues.
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Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.
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