Here’s an idea about how to help businesses survive in this troubled economic climate: Stop allowing an unaccountable regulatory board — unclad by even a fig leaf of constitutionality — to ride roughshod over public companies.
In the wake of the Enron scam and other financial scandals several years ago, Congress enacted a packet of onerous new regulations. This Sarbanes-Oxley legislation created a regulatory board, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to issue arbitrary edicts, impose arbitrary penalties, etc.
One problem with this star chamber is that its officers are neither appointed by the executive branch nor approved by Congress, as required by the Constitution.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Free Enterprise Fund want this practice to end. CEI explains that if the president were obliged to appoint and dismiss members of this board, as required by the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, “he will be on the hook for their policy failures, and thus have an interest in making them develop sound policies. . . . He won’t be able to blame the red tape on an unaccountable agency. . . .”
But the two organizations are not merely publishing op-eds and issuing press releases. They have filed suit, taking their case against the oversight board to the courts. And now the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.
At last, this oversight board gets some much-needed oversight.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
4 replies on “Stop Unconstitutional Stomping”
Excellent. We all need to be much more aggressive against the administrators having the power they have assumed. Administrative Law is the problem in many issues and so few commentators recognize this. Think of a problem and usually the solution is found in disolving the Administration or bureau that has created the rule or regulation.
please correct dissolve spelling. thanks.
SarBox was one of W’s most bone-headed mistakes as he assumed that the Supreme Court would do its job (NEVER bet on this!), so he could appear bipartisan (as though the libs would ever permit this) and “wash his hands” of the matter.
(SarBox caused accounting costs to explode, which especially devastated younger and smaller co’s just trying to turn a profit, while having half of their revenue eaten up by accounting costs.)
Had W used his veto pen a lot more often, we’d be better off today, as the republicans could have sustained a veto the first six years of his admin.
Obama inherited a dem financial disaster. W did help, however, by agreeing to start the “stimulus” (wasteful, anti-free market) ball rolling in advance of Obama’s coronation.
Education spending will remain expensive, propagandized, and wasteful until the teachers unions are disbanded, which definitely won’t happen under dem “leadership,” and probably not under GOP “leadership,” either. Education will suffer until this happens, however. Sounds good, but doesn’t work in practice.
It’s bad enough that flaming libs are constantly “advising” the GOP, but worse when repubs actually take it seriously. Yeah, I can see where one would want valuable tips from one’s opponents. NOT!
Sarbox may have been GW’s ssecond most boneheaded mistake, but the real most boneheaded was in signing McCain-Feingold, hoping the same-that the STupremes would kil it for hi, thus destroyinf the first amendment and our freedom of speech. This is why I voted against the Big Mac. Did not vote for jusgears-I voted for Sarah, and I’ll do it again for as long as she keeps running-the libs hate her, therefore, she must be doing it right