Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher?

Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher, and can we make them work better?

The courts just protected your dishwasher from the Executive Branch!

You probably didn’t even know your dishwasher was under attack.

The Department of Energy issued a regulation limiting the amount of water dishwashers can use.

They believed legislation that gave them the power to regulate energy efficiency could also allow them to regulate water usage. After all, it takes energy to move water.

But their logic ran afoul of two harsh realities – one was practical and the other legal.

The practical problem is that it takes a certain amount of water flow to remove and dissolve food from dishes. If dishwashers no longer provide sufficient flow, people will spend more time with primitive hand washing in the sink. This is commonly called “pre-washing.” Get this…

Pre-washing takes more water and more energy!

We’ve seen the same thing happen with toilets. Low-flow toilets made people flush more often, defeating the purpose of low-flow regulations!

These examples raise an age-old question.

Who regulates the regulators?

Just because government bureaucrats claim expertise doesn’t mean they actually possess it. We cannot even assume they can do simple math.

What can we do when the supposed experts get it wrong?

Cynics claim you have no recourse. We just have to suffer. However, some aspects of the system work sometimes. In this case, the constitutional system of…

Checks and balances rescued your dishwasher!

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that the legislative authority for the DOE to regulate energy efficiency did NOT extend to water usage! Now, this point is being driven home again by another lawsuit sponsored by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights need more explicit enforcement mechanisms to protect your rights. But the separation of powers provides you with implicit protections. And it works more often than we acknowledge.

Here’s the problem: the courts almost always check and balance the legislative and executive branches.

We also need a more robust system where Congress and the President do more checking and balancing.

One way we can achieve that is by passing the “Write the Laws Act (WTLA).”

Senator Rand Paul has introduced WTLA. WTLA would require every regulation written by Executive Branch agencies to receive an up or down vote in Congress before it can be enforced.

This would compel Congress to “check and balance” Executive Branch bureaucracies.

WTLA would also encourage the judicial branch to “check and balance” the bureaucrats. That’s because WTLA directs courts to consider all regulations enforced without a Congressional vote to be null and void.

Help us pass this legislation by sharing this message with your friends. Ask them to join The 300 in their district to get their local rep and Senators to co-sponsor this legislation.

Pass the Write the Laws Act

If you’re already a member of The 300 for this bill, please make a contribution or start a monthly pledge so we can spread the word about WTLA to more people. Thank you!

Set your own agenda,

Jim Babka, President
Agenda Setters by Downsize DC

Today’s Action: Restore checks and balances, and not just for dishwashers, with the Write the Laws Act!