GOP rep pledges to ‘restore separation of powers’

Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.) is celebrating Constitution Day by touting his party’s “Better Way” platform, which he says would “restore the separation of powers.”

{mosads}Saturday marks the 229th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. In the GOP weekly address on Saturday, Rothfus hailed the signers as “visionaries” and called for the restoration of their philosophy of government.

“Theirs was a vision for a new kind of government, one based on freedom not force,” Rothfus said. “Our Founders recognized that in our country, the government would operate by the consent of the governed. And so to guard against arbitrary power, there would instead be a separation of powers among three branches of government.”

“This all sounds so simple, but in recent years, we’ve seen an erosion of these principles,” he continued.

Rothfus blasted “so-called experts” who call for new regulations without accountability, saying that laws like Dodd-Frank have hurt ordinary American consumers. He also derided the Obama administration’s regulations of the energy and healthcare industries. 

“Our Better Way plan seeks to restore the separation of powers in at least a few important ways,” Rothfus said.

“We propose that Congress actually write laws in clear language that provides clear lines of authority — no gray areas that allow unelected bureaucrats to run amok; we propose new limits on spending, so that Congress and the people have the ultimate say over how your tax dollars are being spent; and we want to increase transparency across the board.”