A One-Pager on an “Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act”

In recent months CEI has presented the case for a “Abuse of Crisis Prevention Act” to counter and prevent the political predation that continues to accompany crises like COVID, the financial meltdown, and 9/11.

An essay on that topic, “Framing an ‘Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act’ to Confine the Federal Government” now appears on the Social Science Research Network, based upon a speech delivered at CEI’s 2022 Annual Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico to outline and frame the concept.

Such legislation would naturally entail several “Titles,” and I realize there was probably not a single spot where I’d laid those specifics and the basic notion out in less than a page. As it happens, the Abstract for the SSRN piece does just that, providing a quick capsule of what we’re trying to accomplish:   

The COIVD pandemic of 2020 represented the third, not first, economic shock of the 21st Century to which the response has been rampant political predation, with no consequences for the perpetrators. Limited government, already largely exiled, cannot withstand further such insults. An “Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act” is necessary before the next major shock befalls us. There are several steps that must be taken.

Title I entails regulatory liberalization and phase-out of the administrative state; Title II requires policymakers to foster household intergenerational wealth rather than federal intergenerational debt; and ends their self-serving helicopter government custodial care of able-bodied adult countrymen; Title III fosters business and corporate “doomsday prepping” and extreme “rainy-day” resilience to prevent rent-seeking and the federal/state flash-policy knee-jerk reactions that will otherwise happen automatically; Title IV entails restricting “emergency declarations,” so called, plus implementing sweeping insurance market reforms to privatize readiness to the ultimate degree; Title V entails a fulfillment of state sovereignty that looks beyond mere unrealized “federalism.” Finally, Title VI calls for the harsh discipline of political predation.

What is commonly called “reset” today is instead an expansion of already-in-process increasingly arrogant coercive progressive policies. In contrast, and not exhaustive, the six legislative “Titles” outlined herein mark the beginnings of a genuine reset, which necessarily entails a restoration of limits on centralization and appropriate discipline of political leaders’ attempts at exploitation of crisis.

There will be more to come, including new Titles as this project expands. See also the recent report, “The Case for Letting Crises Go to Waste: How an ‘Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act’ Can Help Rein in Runaway Government Growth.”