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Complications Proliferate

Posted by Herb7734 6 years, 12 months ago to Government
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Let us say that Senator verybright comes up with a new idea for a law.but other senators want to get their name on it as well So, they add complications and procedures to it and for every additional complication more workers are needed in order to oversee that particular addition. So, what started out as a simple straight forward idea, has become a complex, cumbersom lawspeak jumble. We have all seen this happen many times, it is called "The Peter Principle" an idea that started as a joke, but turned out to be a useful tool in sorting through the rules and regulations attatched to most significant documents. "Work tends to expand in order to fill the space available for it." It illustrates why some perfectly good ideas never get implemented, it makes a simple concept look more grandeloquent. Load it up with lots of rules and procedures and it may look more impressive. But just like asmall open wound, once it becomes infected it can turn into a deadly thing with the possibility of killing the host. Too much bacteria.That is why a law, 200 pages long could be, and should be less than 50 pages long.


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  • Posted by Eyecu2 6 years, 11 months ago
    If a law cannot be written in 1 page or less (mostly in a simple phrase) it is to complicated and should not exist.
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    • Posted by 6 years, 11 months ago
      I agree. But I'd settle for 2 or 3 pages.
      ASSOCIATES SHOULD ALWAYS CLOSE THE DOOR< OR SWEEP THE FLOOR IF THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT FOR TIDINESS. BUT MUST BE MADE SAFE FOR ALL TO WALK ON. This was a sign we put up on the wall of the cafeteria in a large manufacturing company. No comment was made until we started asking if anyone knew what it meant. Of course no one did, since it was gibberish. But, once questioned, a tide of inquiry arose demanding to know what it meant.
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  • Posted by CaptainKirk 6 years, 11 months ago
    Nah, it's more perverse than that.
    See, they dial for dollars, and make promises.
    Then when the law is announced, those that gave money call in their chips. In some cases, they literally bid the paragraphs out to the special interests to get their "parts" in there. In most cases, it is a barrier to entry for their competitor.

    I saw this first hand in SC where a salvage car lot owner PAID $$$ to get Environmental Standards raised, protecting against vehicle fluids getting into the ground water, and the ANNUAL Environmental impact studies, etc. Except any place in business for over 20yrs would be grandfathered in to NOT require this. Which just created an EXPENSIVE barrier to competition he foresaw coming from some of the big players (who would compete). It went through, and little places had to close... He raised his rates across the board, as he held a near monopoly.

    Our elected officials RELY on the "industries" to help write the laws, which ensures this kind of crap, over and over. And as long as their donors are good to go, they vote for the bill. It the donors say no... The bill will NOT EVEN come up for a vote (Kates Law?)
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  • Posted by flagg 6 years, 11 months ago
    Regarding the statement "Work tends to expand in order to fill the space available for it.".

    That's actually Parkinson's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkins....

    The Peter principle is a concept in management theory formulated by Laurence J. Peter in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_p...

    Otherwise, good post.
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  • Posted by GaryL 6 years, 11 months ago
    Rules, laws and contracts are food for thought. All are made by lawyers and designed to be argued by other lawyers thereby keeping all the lawyers well fed.
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  • Posted by term2 6 years, 11 months ago
    The purpose of our government is to benefit itself and its minions. Any benefits to the citizens is totally accidental and unimportant.
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    • Posted by ewv 6 years, 11 months ago
      That is not the purpose of dictatorial collectivism in the name of which they operate and which is increasingly accepted. Without the collectivist premises the corrupt tyrants would not be able to get away with it in a nation with the original American individualist sense of life. No matter how corrupt in their own looting, the politicians believe the ideological collectivism themselves as justification for their actions. The socialist Stalins and Hitlers of the world did the same thing. It distinguished them from the earlier "divine right of kings", feudalism, and mercantilism.
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      • Posted by term2 6 years, 11 months ago
        I do think that the acceptance of collectivist principles allows the evil dictators to be in power. During the last election I was struck by the slogan of Hillary-“stronger together”. Sounded like the slogan of a street gang recruiting members. The more Hillary got away with things, the more attractive she was to her followers. Pretty disgusting
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        • Posted by 6 years, 11 months ago
          I find it remarkable how pols can dance around in order to justify their support for another pol even when incontrovertable facts prove them to be downright criminal.
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      • Posted by 6 years, 11 months ago
        Even a system devised to be precisely the opposite of what you describe, has devolved into what you aptly describe falls into that same pattern. The fault is not the system, it is humanity.
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        • Posted by ewv 6 years, 11 months ago
          Not humanity, but the destructive ideas of collectivism and those that follow them. The American sense of life wasn't enough to stop the power of explicitly stated contrary ideas of altruism and collectivism. The "system" was the result.
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    • Posted by 6 years, 11 months ago
      Its motives are money and http://power.In..... upon getting elected, the first thing to do is to get started working toward re-election.Nothing else is important but getting out the votes. Once established in office, the next thing is to gather power. Once in a position of power, garnering wealth is relatively easy.Once all that is accomplished, then and only then can the politician turn his/her energies toward performing the business of government.
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  • Posted by $ WilliamShipley 6 years, 11 months ago
    In Washington, if you want to simplify the tax code by removing a tax deduction so that no one has to keep track of it anymore, the result is that the deduction remains in place but now has a threshold that has to be used in applying it -- thereby making it more complex.
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  • Posted by spicevalleyroad 6 years, 11 months ago
    Every bill presented to members of Congress should be a single issue bill. Let the topic stand/fall on its own merits. Bills should be written so that the 'average' high school graduate can understand what's included. Make them simple/easy-to-understand/single topic. Taxpayers need to be able to know what's being considered.
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