Tag Archives: budget

Economics, Elections, Governance, Representation, Taxation

AMERICA – Article I

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Our Constitution has seven Articles, or “topic sections,” in a sense. The longest and most important, is the first. It describes the bi-cameral Congress. While both Senators and Representatives are members of Congress, we have customarily called Representatives, “Congressmen or Congresswomen;” Senators are Senators. However, members of both “Houses” are members of Congress. Congress OUGHT to be the most important of the three branches of government. It represents the people of the States (Representatives) and the States, themselves (Senators), at least that is the original design. That design has been weakened variously and repeatedly by those who don’t trust small-r “republicanism.” Those are they who proclaim that the United States is a “democracy,” which is intentionally NOT the basic covenant embodied in the Preamble or in the Constitution, itself.

Before we dig deeper into Article I, we must illuminate the problems inherent in “democracy.” Like many, you have probably been convinced to revere democracy when, in fact, it must be carefully constrained in order to serve the government proposed by the Constitution, a real vessel for reverence. Prudence would instruct that democracy is only a mechanism for selecting our representatives, the most crucial of the members of Congress.

Inevitably, the more power allowed to democracy, the more likely that the government will become authoritarian and no longer a partner with its citizens in their success. Democracy gains power from majority action, only. The majority rules in “a democracy.” There are no protections for minority interests. The intended partnership role of our government of the people, by the people and for the people, will quickly degrade to protection of the government and the governors, which we see now in 2023. What has this to do with democracy or the Senate?

The Senate was originally designed to represent the interests of the STATES, whose sovereignty in our FEDERATION, was paramount for many in the Convention and many in the country (and still should be). Every State had its interests and every Senator had reason to respect the will of his or her State’s legislature. In other words, Senators had to answer to a very small set of representatives of their State’s population. Those worthies ought to have had the needs of their States uppermost in their minds, and could not be ignored at the times of choosing their Senators. Senators were supposed to be responsible to their States’ interests.

The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, a most dangerous period for our Republic and for republicanism. It changed the election of Senators to statewide popular voting – pure democracy with almost no accountability, in fact. Since then, the quality of Senators has declined significantly, on average. Democracy places more power in the hands of power and money “brokers,” as it were. Being accountable to everyone has meant being accountable to no one… no one, that is, except the leaders of the Senate and their control of their parties, and of sources of campaign funds.

Pure democracy also is subject to temporary, sometimes mob-like majority emotions. This was recognized in ancient Greece and is an even greater threat in the world of social media, 24–7 news media and widespread (planned) ignorance of reality and history. The mechanism of a Republic filters out those emotions. Citizens must choose the best among them to represent their interests TO the government; States would go through two stages of selection: first to their legislatures and Governors and then to their subsequent appointments of Senators. The Senate, with its longer terms, limited membership and fractional replacement, should be the more thoughtful and, dare we say, wise house of Congress. It’s design is intended to prevent emotional response and to be more accountable for its actions. Much of that “shock-absorber” function was thrown out with the switch to direct election in 1913. For shame.

Still, there are two houses of Congress and both must approve legislation, ostensibly a brake on foolish ideas. In the two-party fog of war, however, and the lack of limits on terms, it serves more effectively to stop good ideas. Abortion, for example can be hotly defended while balancing the budget is set aside. Worse, the Congress has, since the end of the Civil War, rushed to devolve its responsibilities and hand them to the (unelected and virtually un-fire-able) administrative state. About three-fourths of the federal “budget” is in the realm of entitlements or pensions, and “State-aid,” Federal dollars paid out to a thousand programs that States ostensibly control (or misapply). Those dollars twist the sovereignty of states and the thought processes of representatives and senators: No state should receive an unfair allotment of federal largesse. Federal dollars come as if by magic, with many of them being borrowed from the unbelievably distant future, sidestepping the responsibility of raising taxes to obtain them. Congress, both Houses, have “bought into” this sham. There is little statesmanship to point to among the whole number of them.

The most important power of the House of Representatives is to initiate any raising or, as virtually never happens, reducing of revenues. This includes raising taxes or changing tax rates. The Senate must concur, including amendments to bills, so they are nearly as involved in budgets as the House, including in terms of shucking responsibilities in favor of the administrative state.

Other powers of Congress include BORROWING against the full faith and credit of the United States; Coining money and regulating the value thereof; Set uniform rules of naturalization (for legal immigrants); to regulate commerce with other nations and among the several States; to promote the advancement of the sciences and protect invention and copyrights; to declare war including raising the Army and the Navy; to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the United States, and to suppress Insurrections and repel invasions. Among other things.

The Congress is also charged with making laws necessary to effect Execution of the laws passed for operation of the Government and any agency or Department thereof. This last has proven to be the greatest threat to the “Blessings of Liberty” ordained in the Preamble. Hence the administrative and nearly perpetual state, busy passing regulations that are enforced as if at the status of enacted Law. For shame.

The discussion of Article I has, unfortunately, been mostly a rendition of what is failing in Congress and in the operations of Congress, and how far afield from the intentions of republican governance Congress has strayed. It is intensely advised, and Prudent, that Americans study Article I and reflect on history and the events of the past 30 years or so. Congress needs reconstruction as much as the South did in 1866, for it has engaged in insurrection against the Constitution, attempting to overthrow it by divesting Congress, itself, from its responsibilities. The United States is nearly $34 Trillion in debt.

[ See: https://www.prudenceleadbetter.com/2020/09/27/knife-edge-election/ ]

Crime, Economics, Education, Elections, Governance, Politics 2020, Terrorism

A citadel of Lies

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Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. – Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by Saul LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

A CITADEL OF LIES

It appears that not only the idiots who stormed the Capitol but Trump, himself, were suckered into exactly the reactions the Democrats wanted.  They have been convinced for years that conservatives and anyone who agrees with a strong defense of the Constitution and Bill of Rights are all, secretly, neo-Nazis and other caricatures of knuckle-dragging troglodytes.  And all racists, of course, every last one.  One can see this attitude displayed in the virtuous signage supporting “Black Lives Matter” and “Science” and “Love is Love” and “Hate Has No Home Here” since, by their lacking such declarative advertising on their own lawns, everyone that homeowner already knew was barely human, is admitting to that condition.

The trouble is, they teach this stuff in school, to the point of children apologizing for being born white.  Undefined guilt works best if started at an early age.  What rot.

There were some idiots in Washington on January 6th, and not all were part of the rally / protest.  Many work there… many on Capitol Hill, in fact.  Their erstwhile president-elect was quick to declare that the breeching of Capitol security could not be referenced as a ”protest,” no, no, no; it was an insurrection!  A threat to and an attack on “democracy!”  “Don’t you dare call this a protest,” he stated with great passion.

This of course denies the presence of tens of thousands of protesters who have, it seems Prudent to say, hundreds of things to protest.  They came at great cost, since virtually all of them work for a living, and came with some discomfort and trouble, TO PROTEST!  The left, including Democrats and their subservient media, perceive the election of a Democrat as a fresh confirmation of purity and light; only the disruption of that outcome is subject to protest.  Republicans and conservatives are merely tolerated for their value as a common enemy of “progress,” whom all good and virtuous people should dislike, if not more, and shun if possible.

Trump changed their reactions, as he did those of most Republicans, because he actually said what he believed and then put it into action, policy and legislation.  Worse, millions of people – the aforementioned troglodytes – loved the change, loved the brashness, loved the heartfelt defense of America.  The “real” rulers of America had to up… errr, lower their game.  The worst “official” behavior in our history became normal for more than four years, as those sworn to uphold the constitution connived to destroy the most dangerous interloper they’d seen.  For shame.

Now, with the attack on the Capitol, the left has a more perfect common enemy than they could conjure up with constant lying: “Look what they did!  See?  They’re as bad as we’ve been telling you for decades!” 

The Capitol, itself, will become a virtual armed citadel, with new defensive barriers, more police carrying long guns, maybe some hate-sniffing dogs.  Why, you citizens can’t protest what we do up here.  We don’t work for you scum, you work for US!  Oh, wait, is it too early to say that?  We meant to say, “We work our fingers to the bone for all Americans, and we’re happy to scrimp and sacrifice for each and every one of you, especially minorities and members of the LGBTQx community and women and the downtrodden and those streaming to our country for a better life and more government checks, and for Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Disney and CNN and the Washington Post.  But, we must be safe as we go about our august duties… for you.  And you must be safe, too, so keep your stupid masks on.”

No one opposed to the steady march leftward has a right to protest, since to do so is to oppose “progress.”  That such progress replaces and suppresses the guarantees of the Constitution and disabuses us of the points of the Declaration of Independence, is being obscured and dissipated by educational avoidance.  A generation of children are amenable to socialism in the mistaken belief that it will somehow end racism and “inequality.”  The premise, riotously hammered home in city after city during 2020, is that we cannot repair the problems in the U. S., we must destroy the United States and start fresh.  God forbid.

The people leading the riots that burned, destroyed and looted, and assaulted and killed totally innocent people, are financed and led by espoused Marxists and communists.  Yet the “woke” left and Democrats were sympathetic to them and to their supposed grievances however illogical, and even to their destruction of public property.  Theirs were “mostly peaceful” protests and represented an exercise of “fundamental rights.”  Those who lost their businesses – and the THIRTY people who died – were probably part of the protested problems…, they were capitalists, after all.

What on Earth could motivate hundreds of people to be so angry that they’d break the law to protest something the Congress was in the midst of?  What could have possibly been so important?  An election?  Really?

Without fail, every Democratic source and nearly all media instantly declared that there was no evidence of voting fraud or irregularities or illegalities.  By definition, then, anyone who thinks there were is a right-wing nut and not worth listening to.  Unfortunately there are hundreds of statements, affidavits eye-witnesses and analyses that strongly indicate that a lot went wrong in the handful of states, counties and cities where sufficient unlawful votes could guarantee a Biden electoral college win.  None of those deniers of electoral hanky-panky has been interested in actually investigating the charges since doing so would add to the possibility of something wrong and they uniformly deny that.  It’s actually fairly easy to make a strong case based on data analysis, sworn statements, and similarity of irregularities and tactics in the half-dozen “battleground states.”  The defense of what happened in each state comes from the election officials who may be culpable for what may have gone wrong, if so.  To whom can we turn for redress of these grievances?  No one has an answer for that question.

Courts have rejected every appeal, and in more than one instance – including the Supreme Court – the fear of riots… err, “protests” like those that destroyed cities and monuments, was part of why no hearings would be entertained.  For shame.

The respective states’ legislatures, Constitutionally defined as responsible for selecting electors, did attempt action in some states, but the executive branch of their governments had already “certified” the results of the election as reported.  The Biden juggernaut was almost at the pier and the political pressures to conform were intense.  No state was interested in actually investigating “itself,” particularly if it were the only one to change its results, winding up on the ‘outs’ with the new Biden administration.  Our corrupt intermingling of financial responsibilities between supposedly sovereign states and the ostensibly Federal  government, could cost a state a lot of “federal” dollars if that state appeared to oppose the new disbursers of those increasingly hollow “dollars.”  see: http://www.prudenceleadbetter.com/2020/09/27/knife-edge-election/

There was a flood of complaints and subsequent sworn testimony.  There were observations of illegal internet connections, photocopied ballots being scanned, observers being prevented from doing their legal jobs, observers being illegally removed from their posts, false justifications for “stopping” counts simultaneously in four of the battleground states, followed by statistically impossible “spikes” for Biden, every time.  At one point, in Georgia, following an abrupt spike for Biden that erased Trump’s substantial lead, the following FIFTY THREE batches of votes showed exact rates of 50.5% for Biden and 49.5% for Trump – an impossibility.  “Nothing to see here, everybody.  We can explain how everything you saw happen, never happened.”

So, was the giant Washington protest and the smaller ones across the country, just because of this election?  For many, yes, but for many more, the election is simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Congress, particularly the leadership in both houses, has been lying to us for decades.  Almost every piece of legislation is a pack of lies, in that almost every one has a high-falutin’ title that purports to describe what making that bill law, will do.  Yet every one contains pieces of spending that couldn’t pass otherwise.  The worst deceptions are the so-called “budget” bills that spend hundreds of billions at once.  Not even leadership know what such “omnibus” bills include.  Partisans argue over details for publicity purposes, but under various deadline threats, these piles of crap are passed and sent to a president who is also under timely pressure usually because the bill, itself, was passed at the last minute and the defense of the country or the checks to Social Security recipients or, as of late, Covid relief checks are already late.  The pile of dishonesty becomes the law of the land.  Then the big lie kicks in.

The U. S. can’t afford the cost of its standard of living.  Congress – and most other government types – pretend this is nothing to worry about.  They pass spending bills as if we had the money, or revenue, to pay for them.  But these are really borrowing bills.  Up to a third – even 40%(!) – of our budgets for the past 20 years have been covered by borrowing money through the Federal Reserve, a private banking consortium that can legally lend the government money that it doesn’t have.  The U. S. Treasury also sells bonds, which is to say, borrows money from thousands or millions of lenders / investors to keep enough cash in the bank to cover daily outflows.  Consequently, whether to holders of “treasuries” or to the “FED,” Americans pay a ton of interest every month and year.  When we can’t afford to pay the interest, why we just borrow that, too!  What a hoax.

We’ve all heard the stock lie about how closing the government over a spending dispute will cause us to “default” on our loans.  This has never been true, but it sure upsets the less-informed, and mendacious news outlets repeat the same nonsense.

Americans like to believe that the people we elect are watching out for us and keeping us “safe.”  How safe are we with $27 Trillion of debt?  Are we not obligated to our lenders?  How “free” can we be with that burden?  Have our elected representatives been pulling the wool over our eyes all these years?  Are any of them watching out for this nation or for us?  No wonder people are restless.  Fake news makes it even worse, and it all came to a head with the shady voting of 2020, following a year of lies about Covid and lies about the dangers of voting in person.  Partisan news organizations support all of those untruths and add personal attacks and calumny aimed at Trump supporters who agree wholeheartedly with “America First.”  Who argues with that philosophy?  One can tell a great deal about those who do.

After the Viet-Nam war and the following 45 years, who can we complain to?  We have the right to peaceably assemble and to appeal to “the government” for redress of our grievances.  Who would that be?  Who has power over the budget, over the rates of taxation, over the disbursement of funds to which agencies, over the amounts and recipients of “foreign aid, over the confirmation of judges, over the laws governing federal elections, over the policies governing public education, and over the kinds of lightbulbs we can buy?  And over thousands of other daily, personal and business decisions?  Why, the very Congress who has sold us out to China and to international bankers, that’s who.

They are the same charlatans who haven’t been listening to the Americans they purport to represent.  One wonders if they heard anything on January 6th.

What did they hear all Summer as cities burned and insurrection was declared in Seattle?  What did they hear as Marxists burned out the businesses of private citizens and companies?  Apparently, their perceived message was telling them that enough fear in the streets will prevent any serious investigation into the theft of a presidential election.

They did hear something on the sixth, too: “Now is our opportunity, with the connivance of media and social media, to destroy those who disagree with our socialist plans.”  For shame.

Unfortunately, on January 6th, there were some truly odd characters who infiltrated the crowds close to the Capitol building itself.  Many have commented on the very different attitudes of men in camouflage outfits, and how things “felt” as they got closer to the Capitol.  Some evidence indicates that Antifa’s paid thugs were also at the head of the line as the Capitol lines were breeched.  With the new administration, no investigation of that possibility is likely.  As for the odd ducks who may be white supremacists, there is no need to investigate that, because Democrats believe that EVERY Trump supporter is only a shade above troglodyte status and very probably a white supremacist, even if he or she doesn’t know it.  No investigation.

Our new, quite old President, is staffing his administration with people about as different as possible from those who have done a remarkably good job under Trump… and they’ve been selected not for merit or skill, necessarily, but for gender and skin color.  Biden’s “dark winter” could extend for years.  God save us.

Economics, Governance, Representation, Responsibility

ARE-EEE-PEE, SPEAK FOR ME

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Thank Goodness they are willing to fight for us...
U.S. President Trump Addresses Joint Session of Congress – Washington, U.S. – 28/02/17 – U.S. President Donald Trump addresses Congress. REUTERS/Jim Bourg – RTS10VKB

The United States was born in a time of idealism, and “we” incorporated many ideals into our structure of distributed governance within which power is distributed across centers of responsibility: executive, legislative and judicial.  Ostensibly, the legislative center is the most powerful because it represents the people, not the government.  That’s a critical distinction: the EXECUTIVE and associated departments thereof, is the government; the REPRESENTATIVE LEGISLATURE (House and Senate) represent the people and the states, respectively, TO the government.  In other words, the legislative “branch” is not technically part of the government.  It exists to reign in the government and to make certain that the executive branch is conducting business AS THE PEOPLE WANT it done.

Unfortunately, but ideally, the system depends upon honest executives and honest representatives, and that means widespread sharing of a moral code, never a perfect circumstance, and much less so today than ever in our short history.  The trouble with dishonest representatives is that they quickly figured out that they can vote themselves riches from the federal treasury.  Taking more money required new justifications, mostly comprised of establishing one’s own importance and unique abilities to act as our representative.  Senators started out very differently than representatives, and much differently than they claim to be today.

Senators started out being chosen by the legislators in their respective states, based on the concept of states being somewhat sovereign and deserving of their own representation, specifically separately from citizens, themselves.  That is, states’ interests deserved to be watched out for, essentially to keep the federal government from encroaching on states’ rights and authority, which was a good thing for states to do.  It didn’t take too many decades before legislatures demonstrated their inability to agree on who to send to Washington, particularly in the run up to The (second) Civil War.  By 1900 vacancies in the Senate were common and years long.  Voters were really irked.

Finally, in 1913, the 17th Amendment was passed providing for direct election of senators, as there had always been for representatives.  “More democracy” always sounds good, despite its own spotty record, and there has rarely been a senatorial vacancy since then.  The upshot of direct election is that Senators, with their 6-year terms, are now simply more important “representatives,” who may or may NOT represent the interests of their state, and the Senate is the favored way for the lucky Representative to feather his or her retirement.  It’s a nice, cushy job with few responsibilities.  Senators don’t have to answer for every vote, and have found that they can depend on voters’ forgetfulness, while they campaign for re-election in the sixth year of their terms.  Those unlucky Reps have to campaign every other year, if not more, with voters remembering more of what they promised and have done in the first half of their terms.

Still, one of the bright marks of the failure of our ideal system is the 95% re-election rate for our “elected” representatives.  Along with voting themselves (automatically!) increasing amounts of pay, Reps and Senators take part in the finest health care and pension programs in the country.  And, they have monstrous staff and support agencies who barely enable the two houses of Congress to get their work done!  The work burden is unimaginable.  There’s plenty of vacation time to provide relief from those burdens and to allow for basic mental health, there’s so much stress.

There’s so much stress, in fact, that basic work required by the Constitution and the by the citizens who send these sacrificial men and women to Washington to reign in the government on their behalf, often gets rushed through if done at all… stuff like an annual budget, for example.  Not that it must be annual; the constitution says “…from time to time.”  With all the stress noted, bi-annual budgeting would be perfectly useful IF, and only IF the Congress published a “…regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money… from time to time.”  Other burdens not listed in the Constitution are preventing this requirement from being fulfilled.  What a load… these public servants bear.

Now that the financial underpinnings of representatives and senators are firmly in place, and now that most of those same are likewise firmly in place, we find that members of Congress are mostly representing the GOVERNMENT to US, not us to the government.  If you, the employer of these elected bureaucratic swells, ever attend a meeting where one is speaking – maybe even a “Town Hall,” – you’ll find the discussion one of why things that their employers (you) want done by the “government” can’t or won’t get done.  Then you begin to recognize that our “representatives” are anything but… unless money is going to enrich a favorable someone in the district or state.  Then it’s full steam ahead.

You may also realize that the language of Congress is not freedom, justice or Prudence, it’s power.  Oh the money is nice, and all the trappings and perks, they’re okay.  If a congressperson is able to take sufficient advantage of his or her influence over public monies to become wealthy during his or her decades of sacrifice, who really cares?  But when talking power, there are but two potent factors: re-election and avoiding blame.  For these things it is crucial that voters vote at least twice: once with their checkbooks and at least once at the ballot box.  Indeed, public service has become so service-oriented that if voting at the ballot box is too great a burden for you, why friends of the congressperson will do it for you!  And if there are citizens too infirm, confused or temporarily deceased, why they’ll make sure that voting isn’t burdensome on them, either.  Re-election, step one precedes all things.

Step two, also an unending step, avoiding blame for much of anything, requires careful cultivation of scapegoats, but not just any scapegoat, he, she or they – especially “they” – must be plausibly portrayed as directly responsible (blame-worthy), probably responsible (blame-worthy), responsible for someone who made the mistake (blame-worthy), part of a group that has historically been responsible for a history of mistakes (blame-worthy).  It’s simple, but requires a number of staff to keep abreast of.  So, do you get it?  Re-election and avoiding blame… re-election and avoiding blame.  One need not be a genius to run or win for congress; just understand two principles.  The rest of us are left to deal with honesty, honor, duty, tolerance, charity, courage, wisdom, thrift, family, service to others and Prudence.  There is a point to this disparity of lifestyles.

The principles of purposeful citizenship in the United States are a burden that Americans gladly accept… at least they do if educated and prepared to do so.  But they are easily set aside amidst a land of plenty, including plenty of diversions.  Unless we are constantly reminded or constantly remind ourselves  of our exceptional responsibility in the world, the principles and responsibilities with which we are charged as U. S. citizens can be forgotten, as will our unique place in the firmament of mankind.

In other words, “America,” the ideas that created and sustain her, can be lost in a single generation.  Unfortunately our elected representatives, given their disconnectedness from the exigencies of real life and utter concentration upon the two factors outlined earlier, seem to forget the longer list of principles that must be upheld by citizens who remain the strength of our nation.  First of these to become foggy, slipping into haze and irresolution once re-election is achieved that first time, is honesty.  This no longer means lying about what one believes or does, something that can be ferreted out with evidence and records; now it means being afraid to tell the truth about what one does believe!

Now, we need courage in order to exercise honesty.  Americans have been lied-to for decades… by people who promised to “fight” for us once in office.  What does such a “fight” consist of, one wonders?  Does he or she, candidate to represent US, promise to tell the truth about, say, the budget?  Will he or she promise to read and understand every bill that comes to the floor?

Will he or she promise to fight against  any bill that includes items unrelated to the purported title and subject of the bill?  Will he or she insist on budget, and therefore, policy approval, for every titled agency and program in the Executive branch?  You’ll be able to judge where to give your vote if the answer to any of these questions is some mealy-mouthed explanation of why things can’t be done as we ask.

The Courage to be Honest with voters – what a concept.  Maybe there’s hope for Charity (with their own money, not our great grandchildren’s), Wisdom and Thrift.  Thrift would mean reducing the profligate federal budget, something that must be done as part of Honesty.  Of course, they’d have to become conversant with the budget in the first place, and not simply enough to blame one another for wrong-headed spending.  The federal budget is essentially a Trillion dollars out of balance.  Ask any rep or senator you have a chance to meet if he or she is going to fight to cut spending?  Will he or she fight to prevent raising the “debt ceiling,” so called?  Honesty requires an answer, doesn’t it?

Will your representative and senators represent us with Honor?  No sly side-agreements that do not serve their constituents FIRST?  No personal aggrandizement through any piece of legislation?  Honesty would demand proper response to these questions.  Who, after all, is at the top of our system?  The government?  “Brrraaaap!”  You’re out.

We are at the top.  We are sovereign citizens who have ceded LIMITED power and authority to the federal and state governments, and to municipal governments; all other rights, powers and freedoms belong to each of us as sovereign individuals who possess unalienable rights.  Don’t you forget this.  People in government are there to serve us and protect us and our private properties – including our rights: private properties we are born with.

Our success as a self-governing people can be measured only by how much SMALLER we can render our governments, not by how much larger.  Ask your rep and senatorial candidates if they will fight to make government smaller.  Good luck.

Economics, Governance, Representation, Taxation

ARTICLE v. AMENDMENT

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If there were, finally, a convention of the States under article 5 of the Constitution, there are many concerns that people across the political spectrum would like to “fix,” and some of these are appropriately “Constitutional.”  Care must be taken to control the content of the hundreds of proposals that will likely inundate the convention.  Still, here are a few problem areas that are the result of either inadequate institutional structure for today’s technologies (communication, globalism, trade and warfare), or the result of the infusion into federal responsibility dozens if not hundreds of matters that are the appropriate business of sovereign states within a federal system.  Here is a list as seems Prudent:

Lifetime Sinecures – Senators and Representatives are in office too long.  The basic mechanism of election and re-election has become anachronistic in the age of, first, widespread and rapid communication, and, now, virtually instant and digitized communication and data analysis.  The control of data and virtual control of news/information, results in mostly “safe” seats, quantified as 94+% re-election rates.   If each were motivated by purity of public service and statesmanship, longevity in office might be laudable.  Unfortunately, we see over recent decades, that federal office-holders not only tend to ignore their constituents, preferring to deal with and respond to their confederates at the next Senate or House desk, but they become wealthy while in office, leading them to focus on pleasing those Congressional associates so that re-election is made more likely.  Once the first re-election is accomplished, relationships with lobbyists and interest-group advocates of all stripes become more and more crucial and consuming.

This means that change #1 should be Term Limits which, most Prudently, should be stated in terms of continuous service.  That is, being a past Senator or Representative should not preclude running for that office at some future date.  The issue is: How many terms must pass before an individual can run again?  Prudence suggests that one full Senate term and two House terms are appropriate periods.

Administrative Statism – For many reasons we are devolving into a national, rules-based control system, rather than a willing federation of semi-sovereign states, based on laws and shared cultural mores.  Since the Great Depression, the many Congresses and 13 more or less feckless Presidents have overseen massive growth in administrative departments and programs.  Erstwhile “representatives” have successfully divested themselves of most of their governing responsibilities, save two critical ones: Expanding the scope of issues that must be federalized, and Debt Creation.  This massive, unelected, regulatory bloat must be reversed, and the only way to do so is to regain control over federal budgeting.

Federal Budgeting – Of the three key covenants the federal government holds with the citizens of the several states and with the states, themselves, how tax monies are spent is the one that affects everyone, every day.  For the past 50 years, or so, there has not been a “budget,” in fact, for a budget would limit expenditures to match, virtually, the revenues raised.  Moreover, the revenues raised would, in an honest federal system, be expended only by vote of the two houses of Congress and agreement of the President.  We are told this is the case, still, but in truth, most of the budget is “entitlements,” and these are rarely, if ever, considered as manageable by Congress, and if some slight study of them is attempted, the result is generally to increase them by increasing the indebtedness of the United States.  That is, we have outlived our means for decades – a most mendacious process.

By itself, the failure of a string of Congresses to debate, analyze and produce an expenditure plan that is honest with the citizenry, and affordable through taxation, is proof of the utter failure of political leadership since the inception of the Great Society.  These failed potentates of promiscuous promises get re-elected at a 90+% rate, while their “work” product becomes smaller and smaller.  They receive automatic pay raises.

So, correcting the budget process will solve multiple losses of freedom.  There should be an amendment that requires that the “budget” of EVERY Department, Agency, Program and Title within them, shall be approved separately by the Congress through legislation.  In short order this will be seen as “impossible,” and the impossibility of financing more “line items” than can be understood or even counted, should become clear.  The redundancy and overlap of purposes for the thousands of expensive programs, must be cleared away and reduced to fewer than one hundred.  The federal government must get out of much of the peoples’ business that it is in.  Some of it is best managed by States with overarching direction by federal laws that ARE APPROVED by Congress, not by relatively hidden agencies and functionaries.  Americans deserve REPRESENTATION in all matters lawful and budgetary.  This brings us to another section of this amendment.

Legislation – There shall be no “omnibus” bills or laws.  That is, no bill shall be brought forth the content of which is not directly related to a single purpose clearly described in its title, nor should the text of any section be longer than 250 words, with budgetary supporting statements of account allowed, nor should any bill in its entirety contain more than 2,000 words.  Prudence would dictate that unrelated attachments to “must-pass” legislation should be banned.

Further, no new policies or expenditures may be included in any “budget” or taxation legislation without a separate bill that shall be studied and approved by committee and brought to a vote by the whole Congress.  Legislation for such “new” federal activities must contain provisions for financing said actions or policies WITHOUT causing any increase in the indebtedness of the United States.

Balanced Budget – Having established over many decades that Congress is incapable of limiting or cutting virtually ANY expenses other than by shifting expenses from the Defense Department toward domestic expenditures, elected Representatives and Senators shall establish a balanced budget.  However, a limit must be set as a percentage of, what?  Gross Domestic Product?  Some percentage of all taxable income?  Can any “federal” metrics be even trusted?  Some clear standard of measure must be set, else the habitual connivance of re-election interests will modify and obfuscate the intention of this amendment.  Further, no budget shall be passed that increases the indebtedness of the United States except in times of national emergency  or declared war.

Citizenship – No person shall be counted among the census, nor be part of any apportionment of Congressional representation except he or she be a naturally born or legally naturalized citizen of the United States.  No person may be considered a naturally born citizen unless one or both parents shall be a legal citizen at the time of birth.

Sanctuary – No state may interfere with legitimate and proper execution of federal laws, nor with the proper functions and procedures of federal law enforcement personnel.  No law passed by any state or subdivision thereof shall be deemed enforceable if it shall interfere with execution of federal laws or attempt any form of nullification of federal laws.  Federal law enforcement agencies may withhold financial support from those state or local law enforcement agencies that attempt to inhibit, delay or interfere with proper federal law enforcement procedures and personnel.  Interference with proper and appropriate federal law enforcement and personnel shall be adjudicated in federal courts.

Prudence tells us that once a Convention of the States has come to pass, the prospects of another are much greater.  The actions of the organizers and participants of the first such convocation will form crucial precedents that may, one hopes, set a pattern similar to the traditions of the supreme Court, the membership of which has been only discussed, never changed.  Consideration might be given to yet another amendment that limits the frequency  of Article V. conventions.

Politics 2016

The Long Game

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bird
Of the election marathon of 2015-2016 it is safe to say that the Hillary phenomenon is not much of a surprise, although the Bernie Sanders phenomenon is – and he’s more instructive.
On the other hand, the Trump phenomenon has caught a lot of supposed wise observers by surprise and it surely ought not have. Trump is fulfilling an Alinsky-ite prediction: Obama’s EVERY effort has been to destroy his enemies and the classic Alinsky tactics have been employed repeatedly over his two terms.
First was / is to assault normalcy not quite outrageously, but steadfastly, in small ways and large. The “crisis” of financial meltdown, so convenient for Obama’s election, was the blasting cap. Never let a good crisis go to waste. Bam! In came the bailouts and Obama’s first victory in the budget-busting “stimulus” package that upped federal spending by 20%. Republicans didn’t have the majority, then, and watched helplessly, moaning and groaning, some even voting FOR it – able to swallow almost anything.
The Tea Party was born and the 2010 campaigns for Congress joined at that moment. The opposition was “stirred up,” as it were, and Obama’s plan was working. With the mainstream media lathering syrup on his every waffle of wisdom, Republicans were made to look silly in opposition. Time to strike!
In came Obamacare, that Orwellian lie of a law (or, Orwellian pile of crap… whatever works for you), that caught Republicans and the country off-guard. Bam! That was slammed through: another gigantic increase in federal share of GDP, gigantic increase in police-state controls over our most intimate freedoms, and Republicans were made to look silly in opposition.
In 2010 the House went Republican. Oh, wonderful, they said, now we can thwart Obama through control of the “purse strings!” Obama was perfectly satisfied to have Congress split. His plan never was to increase Democratic majorities – it was to destroy Republicans and any opposition to his socialist weakening of the U. S. When you’re in a shooting gallery, the only ducks you can hit are the ones parading by in front of you.
Well, the Republicans were really mad, now, and they proposed repeal of Obamacare, over and over again. The Senate pissed on that idea and Republicans were made to look silly in opposition. No formal budgets were passed, just continuing resolutions that cemented-in the 20% budget increase (plus Obamacare that kept getting funded) the stimulus had injected, and Republicans were made to look silly in opposition, especially when the government shut down for a few days.
Oh, my God! Look at the suffering! It didn’t stop the Republicans. They made believable promises to their base that once they had both Senate and House they could really stop the Obama regime and its terrible…, whatevers – fill in the blank and send a check. Republicans and conservatives were reaping a windfall in donations thanks to that ogre, Obama. And continuing resolutions were passed and the budget remained outrageous, even as Obama could claim to be “reducing deficits at the fastest rate in history.” It was still better that Republicans now controlled Congress for the press could make them look even sillier in opposition… as well as disingenuous to their base!
Having boxed them in with lies about government shutdowns and other opposing acts, Obama and the press displayed all too clearly how Republicans could not be trusted even when they had all the power to stop him that they’d asked for.
Enter Trump, a fallen angel, but angel nonetheless. He has ploughed through standard Republicans, and even Ted Cruz, engendering a substantial opposition within the Republican party, itself, including Mitt Romney Syndrome, that will, if successful in presenting a third candidate, complete the destruction of Obama’s enemies.
It was a long game, but perfectly played by the president, traitor though he may be. Watching the Republicans fumble around, afraid to impeach or withhold funds, all the other crises of Obama’s making were just diversionary, happily watched and waited-out while the long game played along.
Republicans’ 8 years of foolishness have brought us almost to our own goal line, not even talking about defending it, while Mr. Obama flips America the bird.

Prudence Leadbetter