# US Congress: Law making factory. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2002, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236 "2002-09-13T06:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/21 "2002-09-14T01:30:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I think we could start by getting rid of laws about sexual practices… \*\* Yep. In fact, I’d argue that **all** consensual crime laws should be put on the chopping block – sexual practices, prostitution, seat belts, gambling, assisted suicide, recreational drugs, you name it. And if we replaced the Federal Income Tax with a Federal Sales Tax, the Internal Revenue Code would probably shrink from 6000 pages of laws to around 2000 pages overnight. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/22 "2002-09-14T02:29:29Z")
“I note one proposal to make this Congress a two-house body. Excellent - the more impediments to legislation the better. But, instead of following tradition, I suggest one house of legislators, another whose single duty is to repeal laws. Let the legislators pass laws only with a two-thirds majority…while the repealers are able to cancel any law through a mere one-third minority. Preposterous? Think about it. If a bill is so poor that it cannot command two-thirds of your consents, it it not likely that it would make a poor law? And if a law is disliked by as many as one-third is it not likely that you would be better off without it?” - Professor Bernardo de la Paz, _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, Robert A. Heinlein, 1966 ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/23 "2002-09-14T03:07:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > **Can you provide a concrete example of this phenomenon? A federal criminal law with nonsensical or conflicting provisions, or with a “dishonest” rider?** > **[Work for Hire](https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2000-08-25/78379/)** > > The RIAA amends a copyright law that labels "sound recordings" as "work for hire" thus robbing most musicians of right to their masters. > [@](#): > > The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999: A bill amending U.S. copyright laws with respect to satellite re-transmissions of broadcast signals. Passed November 29, it gave satellite carriers the right to deliver local broadcast signals to subscribers. That meant that services such as Direct TV and the Dish Network could now offer their customers the local affiliates of major television networks – ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. – something they had been unable to do previously. **Unbeknownst to nearly everyone involved with the legislation, the bill also took away a musician’s ability to own his/her own master recordings once they’d signed a major-label record deal.** ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/24 "2002-09-14T03:09:46Z")
Whoops, I see that **Bricker** was asking for federal criminal laws. I think my example is still relevant to the OP, though. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/25 "2002-09-14T04:47:00Z")
Gerald Ford was criticized as a do-nothing president because he vetoed so many bills that congress sent him. I personally respected him for it. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/26 "2002-09-14T05:00:44Z")
Gerald Ford was criticized as a do-nothing president because he vetoed so many bills that congress sent him. I personally respected him for it. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/27 "2002-09-14T05:44:30Z")
I think if you look at most laws that get passed, you usually find tweaks or rewrites of the protocols of large existing regimes and government initiatives. Whatever you think about those laws, it at least makes sense that if the government has so many programs and responsibilities, then they need a lot of legislation to run and control them. To seriously reduce the number of laws on the books, you’d really need to start by reducing the sorts of things the government normally does: reduce the range of things it claims to have authority over. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/28 "2002-09-14T10:08:12Z")
I suppose I should go on record as recommending that they write a single law prohibiting anyone from initiating force or fraud against anyone else, and then disolve the legislature. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/29 "2002-09-14T16:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*I suppose I should go on record as recommending that they write a single law prohibiting anyone from initiating force or fraud against anyone else, and then disolve the legislature. \*\* Hey, neat **Lib** that means no taxes and no government spending, right? 😕 [sup]But who’s going to fix that pothole in front of my house?[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236/30 "2002-09-20T01:16:53Z")
> [@](#): > > But who’s going to fix that pothole in front of my house? Fill it in yourself. Problem solved. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congress-law-making-factory/128236.md?page=1)