Stop The Presses!

Editorializing today against SOPA and PIPA, its legslative sibling in the the Senate, the brain-trust over at The Zero sagely notes: 

It's now clear that members of Congress have been grappling clumsily with technologies they do not well understand.

Has Congress ever done otherwise?

A quarter of a century ago, as but one example, Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood spearheaded the "streamlining" of federal tax code; subsequently campaigning on a claim that he had "put more money into your jeans". In point of fact, what they did involved the elimination of many deductions routinely claimed by average Americans: the gasoline tax deduction, the deduction for interest paid on loans and credit cards, and most others - gone.

They also made interest earned in savings accounts taxable; discouraging savings by Americans - and in the years that followed, there was much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth as politicians and news columnists alike lamented the apparently inexplicable lack of savings by Americans in general.

This is what Congress does. Historically, they boldly tackle issues that they don't understand, claim credit for their role in helping to solve problems, and then bemoan the inevitable results of their meddling. It's why, far from being the catastrophic event as generally portrayed, government shutdowns are often beneficial.

 

Comments

[Sam L.]

Unintended consequences RULE!

How often do intended consequences occur?

[Max]

Depends, I think - but politicians seem to have an abysmal track record in the matter of actually achieving intended results. Look at light rail in Portland/Washington County (which they want to expand into Clark and Clackamas Counties): According to statistics released by Tri-Met, 471 crimes were reported along the system in 2010, the last year for which full figures are available. They include 77 misdemeanor and felony assaults.

Clackamas County Sheriff's office noted that reported crimes throughout the city nearly doubled in Gresham within three years of the line opening. And that's one of the big reasons why, although voters passed the measure to build the original line from Portland to Gresham, we voted down polticians' proposals to extend a line from Portland to Hillsboro.

They built it anyway. And sure as the sun rises in the east, crime blossomed along that line. Politicians denied it.

Then they asked to build a line from Portland to Vancouver. That was nixed by voters on both sides of the Columbia. Politicians built it anyway, but not as far as they'd hoped.

And sure as the sun rises in the east...

So, politicians stopped bothering with the formality of asking voters to approve more rail lines. The one to Clackamas Town Center has yielded a 37% increase in crime in the area, according to Clackamas County Sheriff, even as crime has declined everywhere else in the County. Go figure.