Morning Bell: Get to Work Getting Control of Government

Conn Carroll /

Remember when Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL) was asked to identify what part of the Constitution empowers the federal government to force Americans to buy health insurance, and he replied: “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this to be honest.” Remember when Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) told his Hayward, Calif., constituents that “The Federal government can, yes, do most anything in this country.” And remember when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), famously said of Obamacare: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

The progressives that controlled the 111th Congress simply had no respect for the limitations on federal government power that the Founders placed in the U.S. Constitution. That is why 56% of last week’s voters told the national exit poll that “government is doing too much.” That is why progressives no longer control the House. But there are still progressives in the White House. In just the past year, the federal agencies under President Barack Obama’s control have already promulgated 43 new rules which the Obama administration itself estimated will cost the U.S. economy $26.5 billion a year. And President Obama is just getting warmed up. The 2,319 page financial regulation bill requires 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies. The 2,700 page Obamacare bill contains more than 1,000 instances where Congress instructed HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to regulate the health care industry. And the Federal Communications Commission is considering implementing, for the first time in the history of the Internet, “net neutrality” regulations that will undermine investment incentives, thereby robbing the nation of much-needed broadband upgrades.

The federal government is out of control. Congress must immediately reestablish legislative accountability by posting complete legislation, ending earmarks, reviewing all unauthorized programs and respecting constitutional limits on government. Congress must check executive branch overreach with aggressive oversight, roll back recent government interventions, stop unnecessary administrative regulations and sunset new ones, restrict bureaucrats’ rulemaking authority and override expansive executive orders. Specifically, Congress must: (more…)