How To Control Congress
Let's assume that each of our 535 congressmen cares about the destructive impact of deficits and debt on the future of our country. Regardless of party, congressmen face enormous lobbying pressures and awards to spend more and little or no pressure and awards to spend less. The nation's founders would be horrified by today's congressional spending that consumes 25 percent of our GDP. Contrast that to the years 1787 to the 1920s when federal government spending never exceeded 4 percent of our GDP except in wartime. Today, federal, state and local government consumes 43 percent of what Americans produce each year. The Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation computes that the average taxpayer is forced to work from Jan. 1 to mid-April to pay federal, state and local taxes. If he were taxed enough to pay the $1.5 trillion federal deficit, he'd be forced to work until mid-May.
Tax revenue is not the problem. The federal government has collected just about 20 percent of the nation's GDP almost every year since 1960. Federal spending has exceeded revenue for most of that period and has taken an unprecedented leap since 2008 to produce today's massive deficit. Since federal spending is the problem, that's where our focus should be.
Cutting spending is politically challenging. Every spending constituency sees its handout as vital, whether it's Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid recipients or farmers, poor people, educators or the military. It's easy for congressmen to say yes to these spending constituencies because whether it's Democrats or Republicans in control, they face no hard and fast bottom line.
The bottom line that Americans need is a constitutional amendment limiting congressional spending to some fraction, say 20 percent, of the GDP. That limit could be exceeded only if the president declared a state of emergency along with a two-thirds vote of approval in both houses of Congress. Each year of a declared state of emergency would require another two-thirds vote in each house.
During the early '80s, I was a member of the National Tax Limitation Committee's distinguished blue-ribbon drafting committee that included notables such as Milton Friedman, James Buchanan, Paul McCracken, Bill Niskanen, Craig Stubblebine, Robert Bork, Aaron Wildavsky, Robert Nisbet, Robert Carleson and others. We drafted a Balanced Budget/Spending Limitation amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Senate passed that amendment on Aug. 4, 1982, by a vote of 69 to 31, two more than the two-thirds vote required for approval of a constitutional amendment. The vote was bipartisan: 47 Republicans, 21 Democrats and 1 Independent voted for the amendment.
It was a different story in the House of Representatives. Its leadership, under Tip O'Neill tried to prevent a vote on the amendment; however, a discharge petition forced a vote on it. While the amendment was approved by a majority (236 to 187), it did not meet the two-thirds required by Article V of the Constitution. The vote was again bipartisan: 167 Republicans, 69 Democrats. The amendment can be found in Milton and Rose Friedman's "Tyranny of the Status Quo."
The benefit of a balanced budget/spending limitation amendment is that it would give Congress a bottom line just as we in the private sector have a bottom line. Congress would be forced to play one spending constituency off against another, rather than, as it does today, satisfy most spending constituents and pass the buck to the rest of us and future generations in the forms of federal deficits and debt.
The 1980s discussions settled on giving Congress a spending limit of 18 or 20 percent of our GDP. I thought a 10 percent limit was better. When queried by a reporter as to why 10 percent, I told him that if 10 percent is good enough for the Baptist Church, it ought to be good enough for Congress.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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Excellent Article, Mr. Williams. Taxpayers myst gain control of the run-a-way politicians! TIME FOR ‘FAIR TAX' WITH NO HIDDEN AGENDAS! Property taxes MUST be eliminated and let everyone pay his share if they want to live in America! Hard-working Taxpayers should be able to use their money to educate their children and grandchildren in a good Christian School! State and federal governments take sales and gas taxes from each county, using for who knows what, now they've started another Ponzi Scheme. Property taxes are now being taken from each county and being sent to another county! This, too, is more than questionable! Taxpayers are fed up with paying for attorneys to represent people that's committed crimes! This is another ‘Violation of Taxpayers Civil Rights and Discrimination' and should stop immediately! Voting Laws must be changed! Taxpayers know there's too many problems with voting and has been allowed to go on far too long! Hard-working Taxpayers votes are canceled by the people voting that don't work, never intend to work, live off welfare and social programs, and yet, they're allowed to vote? Don't you think politicians should be held responsible for bankrupting America with these ‘endless money pits'?
No more allowing politicians/workers to receive exorbitant salaries and retirements. Politicians, for
their so-called public service work, should not be able to earn more than $12,000.00 yearly, they
should be made to put their assets into social security to cover the IOU's they've put in this vault! They
should be put on the Social Security System, that they've bankrupted, and receive absolutely the same
benefits as the Taxpayers. No more paying FICA, 401K, Insurance, trips, cell phones, autos,
allowances, and all the other freebies Taxpayers don't know about. This money doesn't belong to
them and it's absolutely abuse against our children and grandchildren.
We must bring back ‘honesty', ‘common sense', ‘respect', ‘morals', ‘character' and ‘principles' to local,
State, and Federal government! Maybe after over five (5) decades of decline, this can be accomplished
if put into action immediately!
While I am on a roll, the aforementioned is absolutely the only way to balance the budget and keep
America from becoming a Third World Country, as ‘America is no longer the Super Power', due to
these incompetent, corrupt, greedy fat cats, now is it?
Freddie Max and Fannie Mae sprung up, insurance went out ot site due to being the “all-in-one”
theory, banks were told that everyone was entitled to the American Dream, whether they worked
and earned anything or not,
I do know that Democrats pushed to get minimum wage raised. My over four (4) decades in
business, their economics don't add up. If you vote for them you can stop bellyaching about the
price of gas, cars, houses, groceries, clothes, insurance, medicine, rent, lights, etc. Every time you
receive a little more money in your paychecks you pay out ten-fold! Politicians call this “cost of
living!” Guess who it's costing?
Comment: #1
Posted by: Shirley deLong
Sun Dec 5, 2010 3:14 PM
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No, dear One! The actual result of the Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) would be to impliedly repeal our existing Constitution of enumerated powers; and create a new system where Congress' [now] unconstitutional spending is legitimized - as long as it is no more than 20% of the GDP.
And since Congress, the executive branch and the judicial branch already ignore the limitations the existing Constitution places on their powers (they have no lawful authority outside of their enumerated powers); it would be no time at all before they ignore the 20% limit on spending.
***Our Constitution Created a Limited Federal Government with Enumerated Powers***
With The Constitution, WE THE PEOPLE ordained & established a Federation of States which united for THE LIMITED PURPOSES enumerated in the Constitution: national defense, international commerce & relations; and domestically, the establishment of an uniform commercial system: Weights & measures, patents & copyrights, a monetary system based on gold & silver, bankruptcy laws, and mail delivery. That's about it! (Art. I, Sec. 8, clauses 1-16, U.S. Constitution).
Over & over, The Federalist Papers confirm that ours is a Constitution of enumerated powers only. In our favorite, Federalist No. 45 (9th para), James Madison says:
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people…" [emphasis mine]
So the objects on which Congress is authorized by the Constitution to make laws and spend money are few and enumerated.
***Congress Violates the Existing Constitution by Legislating & Spending on Unconstitutional Objects***
The Constitution does not permit Congress to create and appropriate funds for the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation; etc.
The Constitution does not permit Congress to appropriate funds for Independent Agencies and Government Corporations such as AMTRAK, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, African Development Foundation, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Railroad Retirement Board, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, Tennessee Valley Administration, etc.
The Constitution does not permit Congress to appropriate funds for the many Boards, Commissions, and Committees and various Quasi-Official Agencies.
The Constitution does not permit Congress to appropriate funds for pork barrel spending or for private concerns.
The Constitution does not permit Congress to appropriate funds for massive "entitlement" programs such as social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The Constitution does not permit Congress to appropriate funds to bail out private businesses.
All these Departments, Agencies, Government corporations, Boards, Commissions, Committees, Bureaus, "entitlement programs", Pork, and bailouts are unconstitutional as outside Congress' Enumerated Powers.
It is this lawless & unconstitutional spending which gave us a national debt of over $14 Trillion - a debt which increases at the rate of over $4 Billion a day! It is also this lawless & unconstitutional spending which has resulted in the federal government's increasing interference in the most intimate aspects of our lives.
***We can not starve The Beast if we give it a Constitutional Claim to 20% of GNP***
According to this chart, the GNP for 2009 was $14.119 Trillion. Giving The Beast a constitutional claim to "only" 20% of the GNP will not rein it in. We need to man up and face the real problem: Congress legislates and spends money on objects for which it has no constitutional authority.
***The Answer is to Strip the Beast of its Usurped Powers***
We must systematically dismantle the unconstitutional federal departments and agencies and programs. Start by eliminating the Departments of Education & Energy. Do it now! More departments can be eliminated outright; the functions of others transferred to the States, privatized (private charities or enterprises), or liquidated (e.g., your brilliant idea of exchanging parcels of government land for individuals' ss & medicare benefits).
***How would the BBA authorize spending that violates the Enumerated Powers of the Constitution?***
Say you have a 16 year old daughter and you tell her to abstain from sex until she is married. Later, you give her a bag of condoms & tell her you will give her such a bag every month.
An established legal “Rule of Construction” applies here: When there are contradictory provisions, “…the last in order of time shall be preferred to the first. But this is a mere rule of construction, not derived from any positive law, but from the nature and reason of the thing…”. (Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, 12th para).
Ours is a Constitution of enumerated powers only & the list of objects on which Congress may lawfully appropriate funds is very short. All three branches of the federal government ignore this. The BBA does not address that unconstitutional spending. All it purports to do is limit that unconstitutional spending to “only” 20% of the GDP. But if Congress restricted its spending to its enumerated objects, it could not possibly spend such a large sum as 20% of the GDP!
By not addressing Congress' unconstitutional spending, & by approving the spending of 20% of the GDP – a sum Congress could not possibly consume if it were restricted to its constitutional powers - the BBA impliedly repeals the enumerated powers aspect of our Constitution. The rule of Construction mentioned by Hamilton would be applied, and our Constitution would no longer be one of enumerated powers – it would just be one with a spending cap (which Congress can exceed when they want to).
We have developed a mindset where we just want to treat symptoms - we do NOT want to treat the disease - American Medicine is based on this mindset. We have an enormous debt because Congress spends money on unconstitutional objects. THAT is the cause of our problem - fix THAT!
The Solution is to Restore our Constitution of Enumerated Powers. Rein in the Beast. PH
Comment: #2
Posted by: Publius Huldah
Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:21 PM
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