Title: How Do We Curtail Government Spending?

Original CoS Document (slug): how-do-we-curtail-government-spending

Created: 2024-09-12 13:26:32

Updated: 2024-10-11 03:00:00

Published: 2024-09-12 03:00:00

Converted: 2025-03-29T14:57:57.184213548

The government is out of control by the people’s standards.

The government does not seem to be able to keep inflation down, control spending, manage our foreign policy, nor protect our personal freedoms. Some of the blame falls on the bureaucracy, some of the blame falls on Congress, and some of the blame falls on the American people. How do we bring the government back into economic order? Government and the American people have not learned the lessons of the past. Every recession is brought on by some kind government program that has failed. Many of the problems of today are the result of trying to curry favor with the voters. In other words, government is trying to buy our votes. Student loan forgiveness, taxing the rich, taxing business, subsidies to favored groups, tax loopholes, tax incentives, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare – all are designed to influence voters to vote in the government's best interests. The buck may stop at the Resolute Desk, but the bill is always paid by the American people.

Bureaucracy is a multi-headed unelected group of people who can control our lives.

As part of the of the executive branch of government, they are hired workers. Only the top administrative positions are appointed by and responsible to the President. The bureaucracy makes hundreds of rules each year that affect the prices we pay and the paperwork nightmare that small businesses have to contend. The bureaucracy is protected by a strong union that abhors reduction or change in the status quo for any reason. Many presidents have proposed reducing the number of agencies of the government, but none have done so. The department of education is one such agency. It seems that once an agency is established, it remains forever. We have agencies that duplicate each other’s work. In 2022 nearly 3 million people worked for the federal government – and the number has been growing each year since 1984. The budget could partially be controlled by eliminating the enormous government waste. One such way would for an agency to justify itself every five years and be approved by Congress – a sunset clause in their charter, as it were.

Congress Shares Part of the Blame

Congress is as much to blame as the executive branch. It seems that the main objective of congressmen is to be re-elected. They spend much of their time trolling for funds to make that happen. Any individual congressman cannot know everything. So, what do they do? They give decision making to the bureaucrats. Congress does not pass judgement on what the bureaucrats propose. What would happen if congressmen knew their terms would only last for a determined amount of time? They would have to live under the rules that the bureaucracy passed. With the striking down of the Chevron Deference law, Congress can redefine how it does business. They could take more responsibility for their actions and make the bureaucracy more beholding to Congress. Will they? It remains to be seen. Does this make a case for term limits? If part of the blame for our economic strategies falls on Congress, then “we the people” are also to blame as we vote for our representatives.

That leaves us – the American people as the biggest factor influencing the economy. If we are not informed when we vote, we can vote for inept candidates. Yes, we all want utopia, but utopia is unobtainable because of the number of diverse people we have in our culture. What is utopia for some is not utopia for others. Who decides? If we believe all the legacy media tells us and do not hear diverse news and opinions, how do we know if what we do is best for each of us and for America? As people who determine what our culture represents, we owe it to ourselves to become the best-informed voters in the world. It requires some work and it requires a mind willing to ponder who we are as a people, what beliefs we have, consideration of our history, and who we want to become.

How Do We Solve the Problem?

How do we make the government live within it means? There are some economists and other “experts” that believe we do not have to balance the budget. They say we have a printing press and can print our way out of any difficulty. How has that worked out for your family? Interest on the national debt is nearly 10 percent of the budget ($800 million). One idea is to limit the government expenditures to a percent of the Gross Domestic Product (exclusive of government expenditures) averaged over a 2-3 year period, unless in case of an emergency. Who defines what an “emergency” is? Experience has shown that politicians can show that everything is an “emergency.” There are other ideas that also need to be considered. In any case, a Convention of States, before it can propose any amendments, has a lot of work to do.

It took the Founding Fathers four months of argument, debate, and consideration to fashion a constitution. Will a few weeks of a convention enable delegates to fashion wise and definitive amendments on each of the three defined objectives. Should ad hoc committees begin their work now so that, when we get 34 states to support a Convention of States under Article V of the Constitution, the committees will have definitive alternatives that can be considered and debated by the general assembly?

A responsible government must live within its means, despite what some economists and government leaders believe. A strong nation must control its expenditures and, in normal times, live within its budget and reduce its debts during “un-emergency” times. It is just good business if we want to have a sovereign government that will last forever. Just like American households, if we fall into debt, we have to curtail our spending until we pay off the debt. Unlike American households, the government has a printing press. If the government prints too much money, inflation occurs. What is the solution? The government must spend less money than it collects, pay down the national debt, and live within its means.

The question for a Convention of States is: How do we make this all happen? It is simple - present alternatives and let “we the people” decide.