Articles

Contrary to what one commissioner might think, the Constitution comes before any government official

June 10, 2025 | By MITCHELL SCACCHI

"To the end it may be a government of laws and not of men." This ideal comes from the part of the Massachusetts Constitution establishing the state's separation of powers between its three branches of government. The separation of powers is indispensable to the rule of law. Whether at the state or federal level, the separation of powers keeps the ...

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Sleeping with the fishes : It’s time to resurrect accountability in U.S. fishery regulation

February 28, 2025 | By MITCHELL SCACCHI

If you're expected to comply with hundreds of federal rules and regulations that affect your livelihood, wouldn't you like to know that those rules come from people accountable to you in some way? That's how our laws are made, after all. They come from Congress, which is accountable to the people through the democratic process. Yet much of what ...

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The real shadow government : How unelected bureaucrats have been calling the shots

February 26, 2025 | By MITCHELL SCACCHI

Here's a scary prospect: an unelected shadow government operating beyond the limits of the Constitution and the separation of powers, and doing so with no accountability. Many are portraying President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, this way. Tasked with modernizing technology, increasing efficiency, and rooting out waste, ...

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The CFR : A 190,000-page monument to executive overreach

December 20, 2024 | By MITCHELL SCACCHI

We've heard a lot about draining the swamp over the past eight years, from President-elect Donald Trump when he first landed on the national stage and now, from the dual heads of his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. But what does that actually mean and entail? In short, draining the swamp should mean ...