Bureaucratic Abuse
Overview
Bureaucracies and government agencies at all levels of government, from the EPA, IRS, HSA to the DA's office, inevitably take on a life of their own. Granted power that is seldom monitored by the legislative body that created them, they live to expand that power and control, justifying their budgets by their expanding regulation of ever greater segments of the population. Their relatively independent, unelected nature makes them optimal vehicles for abuse of power for personal and political ends. And their potentially unlimited creative freedom and power make them a magnet for abusive, power-hungry individuals. Learn about some of the ways they abuse their power, here in “Bureaucratic Bullies.”
Examples
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
DHS Seizes Land Rover over EPA Regulations
Bullet-proof vest-wearing Homeland Security and local law enforcement suddenly confiscate numerous classic vehicles, including an old Land Rover, from private owners - without explanation or warning. One agent vaguely speculated that the order may have been motivated by environmental regulations. Owner remains in the dark and without her transportation. Is private property still private and constitutionally protected in America?
But the real story may be different as a 2013 Customs and Border Control article explains their program of interception of illegally imported new Land Rovers that have had their VIN numbers falsified to make them look like they are more than 25 years old so they would be exempt from the safety and pollution requirements for newly imported vehicles. They included pictures of the vehicles being destroyed. This is an example of how you have to vet everything because Fox News isn't.
Interstate Commerce Commission
The first federal regulatory commission was the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) that was to regulate the railroads in the late 1800's to protect the people from monopolistic practices. It illustrates the natural history of government intervention, from an initial effort to correct a real or fancied evil to an expansion of the scope of intervention and special interest control of the agency for the benefit of favored groups and buying of votes. The expansion and monopoly creating control of the ICC is a clear example of how and why government agencies expand and abuse power.
See Milton & Rose Friedman Free to Choose, chapter 7 “Who Protects the Consumer” page 194 for a detailed history of the ICC and its control by those it was supposed to regulate.
"Fair Housing" Assault on Local Zoning:
HUD (department of housing and urban development) proposal on “…’Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ … is a sweeping set of land use regulations ...” that seeks to dismantle local zoning laws so communities have the “right mix of economic, racial and ethnic diversity.” Findings of discrimination are no longer needed. “HUD will supply ‘nationally uniform data’ of what it thinks 1200 communities should look like. Local governments will have to ‘take meaningful actions to further the goals identified,’…” Failure to do so will lead to loss of federal funds.
Westchester County, NY is one of the places where these new regulations, created by unelected bureaucrats, are being implemented. After multiple studies showing that their zoning laws were not discriminatory, HUD cut off $17 million in federal funding in Community Development Block Grants. Maybe Westchester will be better off without them anyway.
Eliot Spitzer's Mafia Tactics:
Eliot Spitzer, the previously disgraced governor of New York who admitted to criminal conduct, as the state Attorney General ran a no holds barred mafia style shake down operation against Wall Street companies. Intimidating companies with indictments that would ruin them regardless of whether they had any basis in fact if they tried to go to court to prove their innocence, Spitzer extracted billions in settlements that were the equivalent of the mafia’s protection racket, just without the tommy guns. Those that did go to trial resulted overwhelmingly in acquittal and in at least one case against an individual dentist resulted in a $7.7 million dollar judgment against the city for malicious prosecution.
See also: Eliot Spitzer's Record: Abuse of Power in WSJ (subscription required) and Eliot Spitzer at Professor Bainbridge's Journal of Law, Politics, and Culture for a list of many articles
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