Each year elected members of Congress (House and Senate) introduce thousands of bills hoping to get them passed, signed by the president and turned into law. The vast majority that make it through both houses get signed by the president. On the fairly rare occasions that he chooses to veto a bill, it goes back to the Congress where they can attempt to override his veto if they can get a two-thirds majority vote of their members, which obviously isn’t real easy to do. President Andrew Johnson had the most vetoes overridden by Congress with 15.
I’m going to be optimistic and perhaps a bit naive by saying I believe that the vast majority of our elected officials try to do what they actually believe to be right and good for the country and our citizens. Obviously there are glaring examples of the opposite on both sides of the aisle but I do believe those are anomalies and not the norm.
What I also firmly believe in is a famous quote by arguably the most knowledgable economist of our time, Milton Friedman, when he said: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
Or as the other famous saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions!”
Rick Barker
Valencia
