About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Misuse Of The Power Of The Purse

About 40 conservative congressmen (known as members of the Freedom Caucus) & the majority of their constituents have become impatient with the lack of results obtained since Republicans took majority control of both the House & Senate following the midterm election of 2014.  This impatience led to the outright dissatisfaction that forced House Speaker John Boehner to resign not only his speakership but also his seat in Congress effective October 30. 
 
Speaker Boehner & Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were not able to devise, let alone implement, a plan that would repeal & replace ObamaCare, stop BO's nuclear weapons deal with Iran, or defund Planned Parenthood following several undercover videos that showed the barbaric taking of organs from fetuses & selling them to the highest bidder.  This has infuriated the Freedom Caucus members as well as members of the Tea Party Caucus, the Liberty Caucus, & the Republican Study Committee.
 
It is very upsetting that all of these things happened under a Republican controlled Congress after it was promised that repealing & replacing ObamaCare would just be the start of setting things right after the Republicans held the House in 2014 & also took majority control of the Senate.  And it certainly was understood that none of the other type incidents – Iran deal & Planned Parenthood tactics – would ever be allowed to stand by this congressional majority.
 
Now the aforementioned politicians surely knew they were overpromising & with a high degree of certainty so did their constituents.  
 
First, the 54 to 46 Republican majority in the Senate needs six Democrats to cooperate to get to the 60 vote supermajority required to bring a measure like any of the above three to cloture – otherwise the measure dies in the Senate deliberative body labyrinth of endless filibuster debate with no positive corrective action whatsoever for the nation. 
 
Next it takes 67 senators & 290 congressmen (including 43 Democrats if all 247 Republicans voted in lockstep) to override BO's certain veto on all of the above three issues – an even harder task.  So a simple majority of both chambers of Congress will not be sufficient to control any of the above three issues based on the numbers. 
 
But the 40 conservative congressmen & talk-radio showmen like Sean Hannity believe they have a winning hand in invoking the Appropriations Claus of the Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 7) which is the cornerstone of Congress's power of the purse function that limits spending of the federal government – in this latest case defunding Planned Parenthood restricts BO's access to the funds formerly subsidized to Planned Parenthood. 
 
The strategy in the defunding Planned Parenthood matter is that a Continuing Resolution (CR) will be submitted without any funding for Planned Parenthood & when BO refuses to sign the measure the government will start to shut down & BO & the Democrats will be blamed.
 
But Boehner & McConnell would have none of this & by coupling every Democrat (except two who didn't vote in the House) & enough statist Republicans the CR passed both the House & Senate thereby funding the government keeping federal agencies operating until December 11 when Congress gets to do it all over again.  The CR did not include any Planned Parenthood cuts or defunding meaning it is merely short term legislation passed by Congress & signed by BO to keep the government open.  The CR does nothing to solve the problems of BO & the Republican groups mentioned above which will resurface again on December 11 when Boehner will no longer be the Speaker.
 
In effect Boehner & McConnell have become the leaders of the Democrats instead of the Republicans.  See the list of 151 congressmen & 20 senators who voted "nay" below.  If your Republican congressmen or senators are not on the list below they voted with Boehner, McConnell, & the Democrats to fund Planned Parenthood @ current levels of over $1 million per day.
 
Now are Sean Hannity & the aforementioned 171 conservative Republicans correct in thinking more of a fight should have been made by the Republican majority Congress by invoking the power of the purse – they claim this is what the Founders & Framers of the Constitution intended?
 
It is certainly true that Congress has the power of the purse but this function was used much differently in 1787 than it is today.  When the Constitution was written there was virtually no money being spent; in fact the only two spending functions of the federal government (i.e., Congress) under the Constitution were to pay the debts of the country & to provide for the common defense & general welfare of the United States (meaning the national welfare of the entire country & not local or regional benefits & certainly not to establish a government giveaway welfare state like we have today). 
 
Contrast this original intended meaning of the power of the purse with the emergence today of 126 welfare programs identified by the Cato Institute.  Scott Hodge of the Tax Foundation determined that the average middle class family receives over $7,000 more in benefits than they pay in federal taxes each year.  The Pew Research Center reports that more than 65% of millenials (people born between 1981 & 2005) support reducing military spending in order to preserve spending on these welfare programs – source Mark Levin, Plunder & Deceit, Page 157.
 
Based on the above it is obvious that the majority of Americans are more interested in receiving government benefits than they are about being financially responsible.  Accordingly, their elected representatives have to be sure they know what they are supporting.  The graph below indicates that an overwhelming majority of people oppose cutting the funding to Planned Parenthood so conservatives (whether in the House, Senate, or talk radio) who are advocating shutting down the government over this issue should take pause to consider where they are in their political lives before continuing with this approach which will be reenacted @ the December 11 CR deadline or the next debt ceiling confrontation scheduled for early November.
 
click on graph to enlarge
 
It is not about picking battles – defunding Planned Parenthood is certainly a worthwhile battle in helping to restore the virtue, morality, & integrity of the country that slips farther away every day - but rather picking how to fight these type of battles so the statist mindset in America can be turned around in order to preserve our standard of living.
 
Remaining silent for months @ a time & then strategizing how to shut down the government @ the last minute point of brinksmanship is a losing approach for Republicans that should be replaced by people who are prepared & dedicated to be long term consistent living examples who can explain & demonstrate the benefits the libertarian principles the country was founded upon & originally followed provide to those of us lucky enough to be born & raised in America.
 
To reverse the growing statist mindset in America the focus must clearly be on trying to reach the 47% of people that Mitt Romney described as "dependent on government, believe they are victims entitled to government handouts, & pay no income tax"; & by reclaiming the education of our children to be responsible citizens who understand that the free enterprise system in America has been so badly & intentionally deformed by BO & the Democrats – virtually beyond recognition – that life has become desperate for far too many people.  
 
To understand how America went from the original mindset where people rebuilt cities that had been destroyed by fires, hurricanes, & earthquakes without asking for government assistance to a mindset of "I deserve, I'm entitled," & "its my right" we must start by seeing how government has increasingly crept into our lives over the decades since America's founding - & all for the worse.
 
Part of our problem can be explained by the busy lives people live that does not allow time for them to know what is happening to themselves or our country. Most such people are uninformed & many do not feel they have any skin in the game or even realize that a game is going on. Now it is human nature to not want to have skin in the game if you are able to play the game & either don't have any skin in the game or think you don't. But we all do & it is the job of those of us who know what our future holds to convince the uninformed that they really do have skin in the game in that their entire standard of existence is @ stake when the government gravy train stops abruptly.
 
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 528
(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

      H R 719      YEA-AND-NAY      30-Sep-2015      4:57 PM
      QUESTION:  On Concurring in the Senate Adt to the House Adt to the Senate Adt
      BILL TITLE:
TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015

YEAS NAYS PRES NV
REPUBLICAN 91 151   4
DEMOCRATIC 186     2
INDEPENDENT        
TOTALS 277 151   6
 
--- NAYS    151 ---

Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Babin
Barr
Barton
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Boustany
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Collins (GA)
Conaway
Crawford
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Farenthold
Fincher
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger

Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt (VA)
Jenkins (KS)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Labrador
LaHood
Lamborn
Latta
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCaul
McClintock
Meadows
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Nugent
Olson

Palazzo
Palmer
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Ratcliffe
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Russell
Salmon
Sanford
Schweikert
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shuster
Smith (MO)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stewart
Stutzman
Wagner
Walberg
Walker
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Yoder
Yoho
Young (IN)


---- NOT VOTING    6 ---

Brady (TX)
Culberson

Hudson
Kelly (IL)

Meeks
Reichert


 
Measure Number:
H.R. 719 (TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015 )
 
Measure Title:
A bill to require the Transportation Security Administration to conform to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, and for other purposes.
 
Vote Counts: YEAs 78
NAYs 20
Not Voting 2
 
NAYs ---20
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Coats (R-IN)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)

Heller (R-NV)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)

Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)

Not Voting - 2
Graham (R-SC)
Rubio (R-FL)
 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. Doug - We all have a responsibility to inform the uninformed of what is at stake for our economy and entitlements. If more of us take time to educate our uninformed voters, we'll have a much better shot in the 2016 elections and vote in more true conservatives.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete