'Persuasion' archives at Mises.Org

'In a speech to the U.S. Senate on March 14, 1834, Henry Clay said, "The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites tbe public odium and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments."'

The Soviet Union failed with its 5 year plans, so we adopted the same system!

Jeff A. Tucker's piece on the USG's 'morass of incompetence and quagmire of subjectivism' is a welcome statement showing how our regulatory system is out of control. In a sense, because it is so out of control and tries to do everything for everyone it can be 'proven' to work for everyone—or conversely to protect no one from anything. Unread by legislators, but created, expanded and enforced by bureaucrats it is a daunting obstacle to progress. Even our esteemed Congressmen recognise the problem:

“I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill’ … What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?” – John Conyers, July 27, 2009

— & yet Rep. Conyers voted for the 2,700 page Health Care Bill and 2,300 page Banking Regulation Bill!!! Which are now being further expanded into a regulatory scheme. :-(
But, at this point complaining is a moot point, after all, what's 5,000 unread pages to a 350,000 page unread thicket of contradictions and restrictions? :-((