Decision Week for the Super Committee Czars
Democracy and Power 116: The citizen’s vote
The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced. If the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt, people must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
— attributed to Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 BC
The American voter has a single vote to choose a person to represent them in Congress, the Senate and the Presidency. The citizen has no vote on policy.
With the growth of the federal government, it is imperative for a citizen to understand the process. Only through an appreciation of our government can “We the People” begin to seek a means of beneficially controlling the power of government.
Decision Week for the Super Committee Czars
Six Democrats and six Republicans need to reach agreement on reducing the deficit by $1.2 billion or legislatively imposed cuts will occur. Congress and the President have arbitrarily mandated cuts to necessary and big budget items, e.g. defense. Congress and the President intend to force the Super Committee to agree to a combination of tax increases and program cuts.
First, one must recognize that American politicians were not always honorable or adult enough to make reasoned and necessary decisions. Hence, 536 Senators, Members of Congress and the President delegated the enormous power to 12 politicians.
These “Beltway Czars” will make decisions affecting every American…our children and our grandchildren. This is a horrific indictment of the federal government. Tragically, the federal government is morally and institutionally incapable of governing. Why? The federal government, violating Constitutional restrains, has usurped societal functions best managed and tended to by family, neighbors, community organizations and local governments.
Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal writes about the ongoing negotiations of the 12 Czars. They are contemplating raising taxes, raising taxes on the rich, raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare, indexing the cost of living increases for Social Security and Medicare, seeking repatriation of out of county corporate profits, capping tax deductions on charitable gifts, home mortgages, state and local taxes, reducing corporate taxes, stopping green energy tax breaks, and the list goes on.
Obviously, the federal government confiscates and controls much of the time, energy and productivity of Americans. The federal government is too big and too burdensome to be competent. Notice, repealing ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank and restricting and reducing the bureaucracy and their pernicious rules is not being discussed. Why, you wonder. Politicians loathe to cut programs. No, government is incapable of cutting programs. Again, government is too big to be competent, and the politicians are too deficient to be principled. So, America awaits the decision of the 12 czars.
What does Stephen Moore expect from the 12 Beltway Oracles? Not much. He writes about his discussion with Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) in the Wall Street Journal:
If there is no deal, there will be a $1.2 trillion sequester of spending over the next 10 years with nearly $600 billion coming out of the defense budget. Mr. Hensarling fears the military cuts would be “draconian,” but he adds, “I have a hard time believing a 10-year sequester of national defense of that magnitude would ever happen.” He continues to state, “At some point the American people will rise up and say ‘Wait a second, we continue to live in a dangerous world, this is not smart.'”
Does Mr. Hensarling think there will be a deficit agreement? “Our backs are finally against the wall,” he says, and both sides are “finally starting to get serious.” Still, his expectations are modest. “We’re not going to be high-fiving each other over any deal that’s reached.”
The 12 Czars will do little. Again, it will be up to We the People to propose big cuts. Fortunately, Freedomworks and the Tea Party Debt Commission will propose big and beneficial cuts. When enacted, these cuts will help the federal government focus on their defined Constitutional responsibilities.
On November 17th, the Tea Party Debt Commission will issue its report. Stay tuned for very significant proposals that will truly reduce the size, scope and the intrusion of the federal government.
