Dr. Morrisey on ObamaCare: ‘So Incoherent it Cannot Be Understood’
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By Hillsdale College Online Courses May 6, 2015
The Federalist Papers warn against the rise of laws “so voluminous that they cannot be read or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” As unelected administrators make regulations that have the force of law, the rule of law weakens, and limits on governmental power begin to erode. This poses a direct threat to liberty. Dr. Will Morrisey and John J. Miller discuss ObamaCare, calling it a perfect example of this issue in government today.
The following video is a clip from Q&A 6 of Hillsdale’s Online Course: “The Federalist Papers,” featuring Dr. Will Morrisey, Professor of Politics, and John J. Miller, Director of the Dow Journalism Program.
Transcript:
John J. Miller:
In your lecture, you mentioned Federalist 62. You quote it, and I want to read back the key line or one of the key lines. “It will be of little avail to the people,” writes Publius, “if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” What would Publius think of ObamaCare?
Will Morrisey:
He would say that's a perfect example. He would say, but not just ObamaCare, but it's the same thing that I was talking about earlier, you get the administrators writing these laws. They have all sorts of elaborate jargon and legalese that they put in and no one other than a professional lawyer who keeps track of all this stuff could possibly master it. As a result, as [Publius] goes on to say in that quote, he says that the only people that are advantaged by this are people who have the money to hire experts to interpret these laws and maybe even influence the administrative law process to get things to their advantage.