The latest omnibus spending bill is a glaring emphasis of what matters to Congress. If you answered, “Anything but the taxpaying citizen!”, you are correct. The inertia that took ‘citizen representation’ to its current iteration may be inevitable—535 elected officials, answerable to no one (except re-election), writing laws they exempt themselves from, with zero accountability or fiscal responsibility. Once elected (someone has to be), they spend literally TRILLIONS of dollars of current and future taxpayer funds, on things no sane, responsible person would even contemplate, easily, with zero regard for those they collected or borrowed from. With a yearly deficit approaching the actual amount of taxes collected, resulting in an accumulated national debt of over $28T, (with yearly GDP of about $18T, that debt will NEVER be addressed), how do we fix this runaway train? Is it even fixable? Let’s dig.
First, a brief history lesson. The US Constitution grants Congress the ability to levy taxes and borrow money, to meet the needs of the Federal government. Prior to 1913, most of the monies raised for such business were tariffs and fees, except for brief attempts to finance specific wars. By definition, Federal government was SMALL, as it truly did not have the resources to be any larger. Then came 1913, and the ratification of the 16th Amendment: the ability for Congress to levy Income Taxes. At first, such taxes were only 1% of wages and incomes, except for the truly wealthy. But the camel’s nose was inside the tent flap. Within just a few years, tax rates and the funds collected increased exponentially! Surprising absolutely no one, the size of government followed suit. Fast forward to current day: almost ALL income above the arbitrarily-defined ‘poverty line’ is taxable. The tax rate percentages range from 10% to 37%, and that does not take into account State and local taxes (we will ignore other payroll taxes for this writing). For many wage earners, Federal Income Taxes are their largest annual expense, outpacing housing, transportation, and food. In 2018, the Federal government collected about $3.6T in Income Taxes!
You’d think such incredible sums of cash could finance ANY government spending. You would be laughably incorrect. Even in 2018, spending outpaced taxes collected by over $1T. As stated above, the accumulated shortfall of spending vs taxes collected now stands at over $28T—and that does not include the spending deemed necessary due to the COVID-19 reactions. $30T is likely to be hit by year-end 2021. The borrowing of future taxes, along with non-stop printing of US currency (with zero assets or economic activity to warrant such printing), not only devalues existing currency (inflation), it also financially damages taxpayers not even born yet.
And the latest omnibus spending bill is a dramatic example of such wanton spending. We will literally borrow BILLIONS of dollars to give MILLIONS of dollars to other countries! If this practice makes sense to anyone, please speak up now! The additional spending in this bill NOT leaving our shores is also problematic: a new Smithsonian Museum; new furniture for Congress; Congressional pay raises (as if they have done an exemplary job thus far); the list goes on and on. The spending is as if the US Treasury was operating at a tremendous surplus, not the staggering deficit that is reality.
So, I think a blanket statement can be declared: Congress no longer works. Not works poorly—it does not work at all. The assumption of fiscal responsibility of taxpayer funds is no longer based upon reality in any way. They truly do not care. Not on what they buy, or how much it costs, or how they will pay back any borrowed funds. Congress is more than happy to overtax citizens, and give those dollars away for nothing in return of value. There is no procedural vehicle in place to stop this nonsense, other than a Presidential veto—which can be overridden.
So, given that Congress is broken beyond repair, no longer satisfying its most basic responsibilities, what do we do? I have some ideas, taken singularly or as a group:
1. Remove ALL sitting Congressmen and women from their posts. They have not displayed the serious temperament and nature to handle their jobs. They are summarily fired. Want back in? Run again.
2. Return to Congress what the founders intended: citizen representatives. No salary (much less SIX TIMES the median US household income). Minimal expense account. No career politicians. We have seen how careerists end up, and we do not want it. Serve a maximum of two terms, go home. No exceptions.
3. Yes, lobbying should be legal. It says right in the 1st Amendment: ‘to petition the Government for a redress of grievances’. That is NOT a monetary transaction. When the first dollar changes hands in that ‘redress’, both payor and payee go to jail. Period.
4. Current year budgets will be expressed as a percentage less than 100 of last year’s tax receipts. All monies collected in excess of that number will, by law, be applied to the national debt, until such time as the national debt is retired.
5. Zero-based budgeting. In the old days, the budget was too complicated and cumbersome to re-justify every department’s sub-budget. Current technology fixes this. All departments start off the year at $0. Then they cost justify EVERY expenditure. None of this nonsense at year-end where spending is crazy so they can have the same funds the next year. Every position—staff and management—must be justified, or it will be eliminated. Department heads, up to and including Cabinet level, are responsible for their budgets. Companies do this routinely—it is time for government to WORK FOR US.
6. The new Congress will be held accountable to the Oath of Office. Period.
7. EVERY spending bill will have the author identified. In addition, it will cite which enumerated power that spending falls under. Any spending bill outside of those parameters is invalid. Hint: Foreign Aid ends. If it is a military or State function, express it as such.
8. Administrative Law disappears. Period. If a Department head does not want to administer their department, resign. Otherwise, all changes to existing laws WILL come before a Congressional vote. NO RULES will have the force of law without passing Congress.
9. ALL LAWS will have a ‘sunset’ (expiration) date. ALL LAWS must be reviewed and re-authorized periodically. CONGRESS CANNOT EXEMPT THEMSELVES FROM ANY LAWS.
10. Enumerated powers will be adhered to. Anything that proposes spending outside of enumerated powers requires a Constitutional Amendment. No variances.
11. This should be unnecessary, but alas, it is now a requirement: patriotic affiliation to the United States of America is required for all officeholders. If you would like to destroy US methods of governance, economies, and the like, you need to be employed by another country, not the US.
12. These rules will be a permanent list, to be added to, but not deleted from, for Congress to operate under. Don’t like them? Don’t run for the office.
