Wednesday, November 16, 2016

HUD Abuse

Federal agencies are a big part of the so-called Washington "swamp."   Even though agencies persist as nearly autonomous through administrations, the key to changing them is to address their practices above and their culture beneath the surface.

Here are some ways we can reform HUD and stop AFFH.


When President Reagan took office in 1980, he promised to reduce the number of federal agencies and rules.   Eight years later, his Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief failed to eliminate a single agency or even one of the thousands of federal regulations.

Today, President-elect Trump has promised to stop HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and reduce all regulations by 70%. Unfortunately, it cannot be done with a “phone and a pen.”

The good news is, even though the rescission process may be arduous, the change to the new administration will almost immediately blunt some of AFFH’s worst consequences for communities
.  HUD does not want to risk exposing a confiscatory agenda that does little to help the poor.

Before I offer my suggestions for neutralizing HUD’s anti-Constitutional activities, let me explain why this process of 
reining in HUD and all federal agencies is imperative, no matter how rigorous it may be.

Most people may not realize that the federal agency bureaucracy, not Congress is now the primary lawmaking body in Washington DC.  In 2015, while Congress passed 115 laws, over 400 agencies churned out 3378 regulations, all with the full force of a congressional law. 

Our Founders never intended to create a nation swimming in laws.  They knew that more laws encourage citizens to lose their self-reliance and become increasingly dependent on government for fairness, support and decision-making. That is why Congress alone has law-making authority and why the people control Congress.

As James Bovard states in his book, Freedom in Chains, laws cause citizens “to cede more of their judgment in daily life.”  He continues,

“Each additional law vesting new power in government agencies, or creating new penalties for private conduct, further preempts and politicizes the citizen’s life.”

Decades ago, Congress began surrendering their responsibilities to federal agencies so they could manage the details necessary to implement legislative laws. Today, those ‘details’ have enabled federal agencies to dwarf Congress. Unelected bureaucrats flood our nation with 3,000 to 4,000 new laws every year.

It does not stop there. The 3000 plus federal regulations are a microdot compared to the rules we rarely hear about. Rules that former FTC economist Robert Rogowsky calls sub-rosa regulations. He describes them as:

“An impressive underground regulatory infrastructure that thrives on investigations, inquiries, threatened legal actions and negotiated settlements.  Without having to “break cover” as one career regulator termed it, savvy bureaucrats can fulfill an agenda of intervention without resorting to rulemaking or other formal mechanisms. Threats of regulation or litigation and the skillful use of public opprobrium can be very effective instruments of a command and control economy.”

Federal agencies’ sub rosa regulatory activities and guidance number in the tens of thousands every year.

http://us11.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ec7f192a872c6e 5829dbbc97e&id=0b5d05d769&e=90dca35998

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