Transparency in Government Pipedream

We are fast approaching the mid-term elections the the standard crop of usual suspects facing a batch of fresh faced hopefuls all with a message of change, control, reigning in, and transparency of our out of control government.

You want total transparency in our government? Control? Force the people we send to Washington to be completely accountable for their EACH and EVERY action!

How?

Single item bills.

People have tried for years to gain the line-item veto and it has been declared invalid and maybe even unconstitutional. So, let's try and end run and make it illegal to attach random, non-related items to a bill. Make each bill passed be a single issue with nothing else attached. No dairy cow abduction research money attached to a military spending bill.

Force a balanced budget amendment as well.

This will bring about a era of fiscal responsibility like we've not seen for ages; if ever!

I would like to see our law process go a step further to a forced reduction in length of verbosity to define a new law. The fewer words used to write an issue, the less confusion and a massive reduction in loopholes. I can hear you asking, "Well, how would they get Healthcare passed in only ten pages?" Simple, they don't. Our government has NO business providing healthcare to it's citizens. Allow insurance to compete across all borders and the costs will come down. Let the states provide industry and medical over site to handle fraud and abuse of the system from both sides.

Yes, I know it is a pipe dream. Politicians are used to running this country using the "system" and straight up subterfuge. You want to fix this country? Fix the system.

Really, should he HAVE to explain this to "our" leaders?

Bernanke explains things to Congress...

 

Every Friday I get my paycheck.  It has to cover my bills and basic living necessities.  Great, I can do that ok, and have enough left over to usually do some things that I'd like to do, but don't have to do.  We, the people, seem to have forgotten that not everything is a necessity. Well, perhaps "we" is too inclusive as there is a large percentage of this country that DOES understand consequences of negative asset spending.  A responsible percentage who manage their lives and finances in a manner that balances the two quite nicely.  And I'm not just talking about people who bring home a huge amount of money, here.  I am talking about normal, middle-class folk who live within their means.

It is the rest of the people who do not, or cannot, think that "the people" can live without Government intervention.  Entitlement programs that were a quick fix in the thirties have now become so commonplace in our society that people cannot live without them!  People become so used to having something in their lives that they think they cannot live without that particular item.  And because of the way that we have allowed these items to get so out of control we can't just yank them out of the budget without causing some people some serious harm.  There are a lot of people who actually count on this income to survive.

I agree whole-heartedly with Mr. Bernanke in that we need to curb our spending.  I would like us to go one step further and put an actual balanced budget amendment in place that would mandate that we can spend no more than we bring in each year.  And then let the actual Constitution dictate what that money is spent on! No more government support of the arts. No more National Education, EPA and the like.  That would all be under the control of each state.  Some things that are a national problem, like drugs, could be investigated by a single unit (think if the FBI/DEA/BATF et al were under one roof) and supported by the military.

To spend money that we don't have is to create a huge problem for ourselves that is going to bite us in the butt after a while; and that time is rapidly approaching.  I know because I, too, spent more than I can afford.  I pay a "stupid tax" each month in the form of credit card debt because I thought I was entitled to certain things.  Nope.  I have now curtailed my spending to what I bring in - I am paying down my debt - and I am living a leaner, cleaner lifestyle that really isn't all that painful.  It was at first, but I quickly found out that I didn't need everything that I'd gotten used to in my life.

Now we need to do the same thing with our Government.  It needs slimming down before it collapses under its own weight.  We need to get rid of all the unnecessary spending and the Constitution will be the deciding factor, not the people. We need to also implement a single item bill for Congress that would not allow for the tacking on of pork barrel spending.  One item per bill: clean, clear and concise. A flat tax for our Federal tax system and then start paying down our national debt.  Really, it can be that simple.  It can't be implemented overnight, mind you, but it can be done. Must be done. If we don't do it and do it soon we are doomed as a people.

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

~ A. Tyler ~

And, really, this leads us to the the fact that we are a Republic.  But, that is another argument for another time.

My but they are getting bold!

Illinois governor taken into custody - CNN.com

Our government, for the most part, is so corrupt that this isn't even all that shocking. I do believe, however, that this man was emboldened by the fact that the Dems were large and in charge and truly believed nothing would happen to him. What else would explain the level of bravado that he displayed while "selling" the seat in the Senate?

I think that you could find similar levels of corruption throughout Federal, State, and Local governments - maybe not as blatant but right up there. We know they exist in business and even in many charitable organizations. And I don't think that party affiliation has anything to do with it, the level of corruption comes down to one common factor: Simple Greed.

Greed has played a part in our lives since time immemorial, and I also believe that it is getting worse. There are levels of technology that are allowing us to expose greed and corruption that didn't exist even ten years ago, but I also believe that this has little to do with the number of cases being brought before the public.

One of the factors is that America (and the world to a large extent) has lost its sense of shame. People are no longer ashamed of their actions, they are only embarrassed and angry that they were caught. There is a prevailing sense of anger by the perpetrators are they are being unfairly charged and "scapegoated ", after all everybody is doing it and its just a little bit off the top. Nobody is truly getting hurt. Right?

Wrong, everybody pays. It undermines the trust of the American People and makes us cynical to the point that life actually begins to lose its luster and simple joy.

GM recently admitted that it had violated America's trust. And in pledging to do better they are hoping to win us back over to their side. But, my question is, why was our trust lost in the first place? They made cheaper, less reliable automobiles in order to try and make a profit. That profit was compromised by the American dream, by the greed of the employees and the mis-management of the company by her executives. And now they expect, and truly believe, that they are too important to be allowed to let die. This is wrong. They can die, and should be allowed to do so; they will be replaced by somebody making a better product with better management skills.

I recently had an email back and forth with a citizen of the web who has strong socialist beliefs. His/her belief is that a person should be paid on how physically hard a person works and that all CEO/owners check their stock and then play a game of Mine Sweeper and head to the club for the day. I fully and whole heartedly disagree with this belief. I think that a person should be rewarded on their skill sets and their willingness to improve themselves. A person who's only job is to man a shovel or is responsible for simply (and in many cases these days: automatically) torquing a set of bolts should not be compensated to the tune of $70,000 to 100,000 dollars a year (cash and benefits). These are no-skill required jobs that can be filled by ANYBODY in America. A CEO on the other hand has a higher and more specialized skill set that allows for oversight of the entire company and is then compensated at a higher level.

Now, I don't necessarily agree that they should be compensated millions of dollars regardless of how a company does, nor receive millions in compensation with the proverbial "golden parachute" when they are terminated for poor performance. But, this is not for the Government or the American People to decide! This is for the Board that the CEO reports to to control. That is a simple business decision that indicates the professional acumen of those making the decisions at the top. I, personally, would expect to be compensated for the quality of the work that I do.

Now, not all issues are directly under the control of the leaders of any business. The economy is a volatile and living thing that has its ups and downs. There are other factors that affect any business, but it is the responsibility of the managers to respond to those situations in a manner that will best allow for the health of the business. Allow that business to carry on and still make a profit. And the larger the business, the harder it is to "re-tool" and roll with the changes that are thrown at it. You don't turn an ocean liner like a sports car. But, there are tools available to industry that, again, with proper management will allow these businesses to succeed.

This is not the first recession our country has weathered, nor will it be the last. I would also venture to say that it is not the WORST we have encountered either. If you listen to the news you hear phrases like "last ten years" or "last five years". They are comparing this downturn to the early Seventies, but won't know if it is worse or not until it is over. And you can trace the causes of this downturn to one simple, root cause: greed.

Simple Greed.

Make these leaders who have taken us here pay for their own messes. Pray that they learn their lesson. America will survive. We will have to tighten our belts, but we will survive.

American's are a resilient People.