WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

If you wanted to establish a system of medical ethics to guide physicians, would you consult the writings of Josef Mengele and Jack Kevorkian?

Almost certainly not. In fact, the twisted ideas of these macabre men of medicine might be the last perspectives you’d want to publicize, except as negative examples.

What if you wanted to codify the rules of sportsmanship to encourage ethics in athletics? Would you seek input from Pete Rose and Lance Armstrong?

Again no. The disgraced ballplayer and cyclist might serve as models of bad behavior, but that’s about it.

For a treatise on patriotism, would you cite the words and actions of Benedict Arnold and Alger Hiss, two notorious traitors? No, indeed.

But what if you wanted to reform the rules regulating the financial services industry? Surely you wouldn’t seek advice from two of the men most responsible for precipitating the current financial crisis, much less entrust to them the writing of the new rules?

Believe it or not, that’s exactly what our elected representatives in Washington did when they allowed Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank to draft the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Needless to say, Dodd and Frank made a mess of things (almost certainly intentionally), Congress enacted their abomination, and now we – the masters of these pitiful public servants -- have to live with it.

Or maybe we don’t. Patrick Morrisey, our new state attorney general, has joined several of his colleagues from other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of some provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

“Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Orderly Liquidation Authority negatively impacts West Virginia and its taxpayers,” Morrisey said. “The Orderly Liquidation Authority allows unelected Washington bureaucrats to pick winners and losers among affected creditors, entirely abandoning the rule of law.”

Morrisey emphasizes that this provision “potentially jeopardizes millions of dollars in state pension funds and other state investments.”

Dodd-Frank is unquestionably unconstitutional and should be judged so.