Why Too Many Laws Lead to Frustration and Confusion

 Welcome to my blog "Why Too Many Laws Lead to Frustration and Confusion",

   Let me describe myself as an independent thinker, non-conformist (some say), and logical (in my mind) average Joe kind of person. To me, the government is too big and way too intrusive. For my purpose in this blog is to focus on laws and law makers in general and why too many laws lead to frustration and confusion.

  Okay, let's first tackle the most hideous of these groups, the IRS. We all know the volumes of tax code laws that no sane person could possibly understand. How in the world did we end up with such a despised agency? Congress somehow created this monster in their image. From March 2006, an article "How Long is It?" "(The United States tax code)" we get these quotes: "By the way, if you go to the US Government Printing Office ( www.gpo.gov ), you can order a complete set of Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations (that's the part written by the IRS), all twenty volumes of it, at the bargain price of $974, shipping included." and "According to the US Government Printing Office, it's 13,458 pages in total. The full text of Title 26 of the United States Code (the part written by Congress--available for an additional $179) is a mere 3,387 printed pages, bringing the adjusted gross page count to 16,845. "
This is a prime example of frustration and confusion of a non-descriptive government agency. Can anyone name the head of the IRS without googling it?  Who is the head of the Treasury? The tax breaks or no tax breaks seem to occur with each political tide. Why do we need laws to determine how much we owe?  No wonder H&R Block is so busy. Anyone hear of a flat tax rate? Let's face it when it comes to taxes everyone has their own agenda to promote. Which in turn leads us to Congress (in their infinite wisdom?) who must pass all the tax code laws. How many of the tax code laws were knowingly approved by the public at large? When was the last time, a politician showed exactly where your hard earned tax dollars go? How much power does the average person have when it comes to spending your tax dollars? Another point to ponder, we all know about the huge deficit, why are we spending any money on foreign aid since the government has to borrow to pay these foreign governments? Of course, this assumes we pay our own bills first. The cure to this would be a balanced budget with some overpayment to pay down the previous built up debt. Why doesn't the government declare bankruptcy and start fresh? That won't happen because politicians can't lose their financial advantage over the average person. One final point before moving on, since I smoke cigarettes, I find it curious how the local government can charge a federal excise tax, state cigarette tax and then on top of the total add a sales tax on that total for a pack of cigarettes. Is that double or triple taxation?

   Next, let's look at the myriad of laws that to me look redundant, stupid or knee jerk. One such law is the so-called hate law. What the heck is a hate law? I suppose you could apply it to anyone. Suppose you killed your wife, who is of a different ethnic origin than you are, and was cheating on you with an old boyfriend of her ethnic origin. Add to that, you hate your in-laws. Do you get life because it was a "hate crime" or because you killed two people. Suppose I hate my neighbor of a different race because he is an idiot and I post a sign in my front yard saying my neighbor is an idiot with a arrow pointing to his house. Is that a hate crime? Who decides? Let's take a less serious approach. From www.legalzoom.com's article titled "Top Craziest Laws Still on the Books" comes "Women in Florida, for example, can be fined for falling asleep under a dryer in a hair salon. And if you're a single thrill-seeker, head some place else. The sunshine state also prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sundays." Did you know in LA it's illegal to bath two babies in the same tub at the same time? A US law that it is illegal to issue a fake Weather Bureau forecast. There is a law about battering anyone over sixty-five? Why not simple battery.

    Ever notice, when someone is being tried for a murder, the prosecutors seem to add a long list of other charges. The list might include attempted murder, carrying a deadly weapon, impeding an investigation, perjury, spitting on the sidewalk, speeding, DUI, drug charges and/or jaywalking. Anything, they hope will stick, to convict the person of something. One case I might cite would be the Casey Anthony trial, where she was only convicted of the the lesser four of the seven charges. She was found not guilty of first or second degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, but was convicted on four counts of giving false information to a law enforcement officer in reference to a missing person. Imagine if Casey just clammed up, the police and prosecutors would have gotten no convictions. I have no opinion if she did or did not commit this heinous crime. The point was all the charges brought against her.

   The Casey example probably will get some politician to create a law that will add more charges to the next defendant in a similar case. A new knee jerk type law will be crafted. It boggles my simple mind as to why we need any new laws, when if she was found guilty one of the serious charges an existing law would have been enough.

   My next topic is state laws and/or city ordinance laws. Who the heck know what these laws are? From www.legalzoom.com's article titled "Top Craziest Laws Still on the Books" comes these quotes "If you're a woman living in Michigan, you might want to check with your husband before heading to the hair stylist. According to state law, your hair belongs to your spouse and you'll need his permission before you can alter it. When visiting Charlotte, North Carolina, don't plan on packing light. According to city law, you must be swathed in at least 16 yards of fabric before stepping out into public. Even in fashion forward New York City, there are laws concerning how a woman dresses. In the Big Apple, wearing clingy or body-hugging clothing carries a $25 dollar fine." I live near the beach and I smoke. The small town, I live in, has a law against smoking on the beach but neither town on either side of this town has a smoking ban. So, anyone walking the beach while smoking could be cited. You would think as long as you can legally buy overly taxed cigarettes that it would be OK to be puffing away in the great outdoors. My problem comes if I litter on the beach with the butts. Nothing is perfect. Riding a golf cart more than 2 miles from your residence is illegal in my state. I do not have an odometer. I hope you get the picture that I am always looking over my shoulder so I don't end up in the town's jail.

The laws, that seem to be absolutely useless, are drug related ones. Can you tell me how locking up a drug user helps anyone? It's OK to lock up the drug user if they committed a crime like DUI, robbery, manslaughter, child abuse, assault or any myriad of violent offenses. Most people realize drug users will never quit until they, themselves, want to quit. Just like a smoker or an alcoholic won't quit until they are ready. Prohibition showed us when we outlawed liquor the violence followed. Rehab the people who need the help. Is it not a waste of our taxpayer money on police resources locking up the drug users? Overcrowded jails certainly don't help non-violent drug users. Other governments have lax drug policies toward these users. The crime rate in these countries never increased. Imagine all the taxpayer money that would be saved if we did away with these laws. Would the government be better served by taxing the drugs as they do with cigarettes and alcohol? How long would it take for all the drug cartels to collapse? Just like the end of Prohibition when most of the mobsters quickly disappeared. Check out this article from www.drugsense.org , it says "The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second. " "State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars." "Arrests for drug law violations this year are expected to exceed the 1,663,582 arrests of 2009. Law enforcement made more arrests for drug abuse violations (an estimated 1.6 million arrests, or 13.0 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense in 2009." "Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds."
 

   My final topic is focusing on the Congressional lawmakers. Remember these are people who vote themselves a pay raise year in and year out. Did you know the current salary (2011) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year? Anyone else would have to prove to their boss they deserve a raise. Congress, with all the special interest groups, seldom can agree on what is best for the country. They pass laws to bail out near bankrupt businesses while not agreeing how to help their own voters. They are the masters of illusion. Issues are construed to the advantage of their largest campaign contributors. Will we ever see the day when a candidate donates his/her campaign funds to help the poor? These are the people who voted for past deficits placing future benefits from various agencies in danger of collapse. These are the people who make laws to give your tax dollars away. We need Congress to live a more Spartan way of life. We need politicians in general to leave office for one term after serving 4 or 6 years to re-connect with the public. If they cannot achieve their campaign promises within their time period in office, get out for a term and let the next person try. Let's hope one day, Congress can pass a balanced budget with no loop holes. Hope for the day, Congress passes a fair flat tax rate. Hope for the day, the IRS is out of business. Hope for the day, we don't have to have an accountant to figure our taxes.  One day without so many laws.

One Day
Make it a Great One

 Thanks for you time

 Mike