This morning I heard a campaign advertisement for Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign. I was told that Barack Obama was secretly hoping that McConnell's Republican challenger, Matt Bevin, would win the primary. I heard the President saying something about how the Senate Majority Leader's biggest goal was to stop him. I'll bet Mr. Obama is shaking in his boots at the thought of Mitch McConnell being re-elected. Those pesky Republicans are always there trying to stop the liberal agenda from being implemented.
So far, what have the Republicans done that has slowed down the progress of the Democratic party? Not much. The Republican controlled House has control of the budget process, so they could refuse to fund anything and everything. They could have stopped the implementation of Obamacare by not funding it. The House could refuse to raise the debt ceiling. That would bring about a defacto balanced budget amendment. Of course, the liberals wouldn't want the government shutdown to last very long, because the people would soon figure out that they could survive without the MessAPolitico. But, I love to dream about how the government would operate under a balanced budget constraint.
If the government couldn't borrow any money, then it would be forced to spend no more than the incoming revenues. The media and the Democrats bloviate that the government would have to be shut down "by the Republicans" in this situation, but that's simply not true. The legislators and the President would be forced to make hard choices with the money they have coming in, but the entire government wouldn't need to be shut down completely. I will add that these legislators need to make these hard choices, and they need to do it sooner rather than later. Those are the same kind of choices all the average Americans have been making over the past five or six years when one of the bread winners got laid off.
A huge percentage of the federal budget is made up of non-discretionary spending. That means that laws passed sometime in the past have mandated that a certain amount must be spent on this or that program. These laws have formulas that automatically raise the amounts paid out each year based on things like the inflation rate. None of today's lawmakers want to repeal or modify these laws because they're afraid the political opposition will run them out of Washington. It also makes it very easy for today's politicians to blame the overblown budget on a past Congress. Regardless, so many Americans today receive some form of tax break or government subsidy, cutting those benefits is likely to change a fiscally responsible politician into an unemployed one.
This leaves the politicians saying that they will just cut the waste and fraud from the government. In theory, the spending could be cut without cutting benefits from anyone. The problem is that a MessAPolitico is highly resistant to changes of any kind, especially those that would cause a government worker to lose his or her job. The political opponents will run campaign ads that simply say that the budget of a pet government program was cut by their opponent. The politicians from both sides of the aisle could get together and figure out where things could be cut with minimal impact on the country. They could jointly work together and do what's best for America. They could even take joint credit for the accomplishment. This could happen in theory, but it will not in reality. It is much easier for one party to turn fiscal responsibility into a political liability hung around the necks of the other party.
So, how can we stop this MessAPolitical circle of frustration? It's simple. Go out and vote in the primary. Send a clear message to the party leadership that their re-election is in jeopardy. Being an incumbent shouldn't be a guarantee of re-election. Tell the MessAPolitico that you are fed up with career politicians who legislate their personal re-election without regard for the country. Elect politicians that will do what is right and who don't care if they get re-elected. They will gladly go back home to their real career in the private sector after a lost election. I'm hoping that this new breed of politician will start taking over control of the House and the Senate next November.
No comments:
Post a Comment