The problem with laws passed in their hundreds. Your library got EBSCO?

The problem with laws passed in their hundreds.

The video linked first below is a CBS interview with US Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch.  He gave the interview as part of a book tour.

There is a lot there, but let's focus in on one of Gorsuch's main theses from the book:  what a superabundance of laws is doing to liberty and freedom in this country.  

I'd like to be able to say that this dynamic is only at the federal level, but I'm increasingly worried about it being copied here, as many of the other distasteful national political dynamics have come home to Colorado.  One needs only look at he swampiness in the Democrat political machine and government for a single example.

The problem as outlined by Gorsuch is that the federal books have more laws than we can count.  I personally wonder if anyone anywhere has a handle on them all.  Perhaps a specialist lawyer knows his or her corner of it, but the general public?  A senator or representative even?  I wouldn't count on it.  

And while abuses happen on both sides of the law, we don't need to resort to poor behavior to find problems.  With or without intent, we have so many laws on the books now that they trip over each other trying to get through the doorway.  They lead to overzealous bureaucratic officials eagerly applying them in cases where commonsense would call for restraint and thought.

Gorsuch uses as an example a magician with a pet rabbit.  He had to go rounds with at leastt a couple federal agencies.  Did he have a FEMA emergency plan?  No, so he wrote one.  Then upon review federal officials asked:  why isn't the rabbit's health and safety at the top of the list?   Rewrite please sir.  Years of lawyers, years of churn.  

There is also the case of the couple in Wyoming who ran afoul of a tactical-gear wearing US Forest Service employee over a land dispute they were already actively working to solve (see the op ed by Rachel Gabel linked second below for this one).

Closer to home, even down to the city (not state) level, we have the story linked third below.  

The City of Golden CO doggedly pursued a couple of moms who ran a nonprofit and did a bake sales to raise money for their charity.  In a quote eerily reminiscent of what Gorsuch mentions about the magician we have:

"'There's always something like, "you've got to stand behind the barricades, you've got to be further back,"' Baldacci [one of the mom's running the nonprofit] said.  Finally, they got an email from the city saying they were breaking the law.  The group says they were led to believe they needed a vendor's permit to operate, which costs $500 per day.  'All we're doing is offering cookies and water for donations for kids with disabilities. That's all we are doing,' Baldacci said."

Unlike Gorsuch's case (or at least unlike to the extent that I didn't hear the motivation behind the actions against the magician), here we do have malice, here we do have intention.

Emails among and between city officials point to (at the very least) a nasty attitude from the Golden Bureaucrats about the situation if not intent to drive them out.  Quoting again from the CBS article:

"Baldacci made a public records request and found emails revealing feelings toward their group were more hostile than they knew.  The city's special events coordinator referred to them as a 'rogue vendor,' 'loud and combative' and twice called them a 'thorn in her side.'  The response from the city auditor was, 'if we can catch them in the act, we can certainly ticket them.'"

And that brings us to the point.  There's no time to go city by city, but I'd like to remind us all that the past legislative session in Colorado had 705 bills introduced with 525 passing out of the legislature.  

Do we need that many?  Was there a 525 law sized hole in the way this state ran?  Do you feel 525 laws safer?  Are the roads 525 laws better?  Is life 525 laws more affordable?  This is all the worse when you consider that past year wasn't even a record-breaker (and only a small margin of the bills introduced in any year are refinements or updates to existing law).

At this pace our state is well on its way (if not there already) to having the trouble Gorsuch highlights with Federal law.  This will not redound to our benefit in terms of our freedom, liberty, or pocketbooks.  

Better get that written emergency policy ready for your pets and houseplants.

https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/the-latest-in-a-long-line-of-ag-abuse-by-the-forest-service-gabel/article_84797bf8-569b-11ef-b857-6fc152423322.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/nonprofit-bake-table-focus-city-golden-enforcement/

Related:

Caldara wrote an op ed recently on the need to protect ALL political minorities in this state.  I couldn't agree more.  

If you are sympathetic to the Democrats in this state, you have nothing to worry about.

What if you aren't, however?  You have cause to worry.

Worth a read.

Oh, and vote NO on the big cat hunting ban.

https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2024/08/14/caldara-even-out-of-favor-political-minorities-need-protecting/

Your library got EBSCO?

This one's more related to a tip on how to do research as opposed to something about politics.  It's showing you a cool new tool you'll want for your toolbox.**

There is a research database called EBSCO (see the link below for the homepage).  It has lots of really cool things in it. 

Want a repair manual so you can learn how to change the starter in your car instead of spending on a mechanic?

Did your doctor recommend a medical procedure and you want to research about it either before you decide or so that you'll know what they're going to do?

Want to find academic papers on some subject you're studying?

Kid (grandkid) got a report and wants to know where to find a resource on that topic?

EBSCO has all of that as well as many others.  Solid, dependable information from solid sources instead of the crapshoot you get with Google or YouTube.  

Normally this would be something you would have to pay for.  That is you'd have to sign up for EBSCO ...

except ....

if you have a library card, you might already have access.  

If you're interested in seeing about your local library, call or visit and ask.  

Don't know how to use it to find what you want?  Ask the librarians.  In my experience there is little that librarians love more than helping people find answers to questions.

**Heard about this when the head of my local library was on the local matters segment of my local radio station.

https://www.ebsco.com/