Government of the people, by the people, and for the people is not safeguarded by career politicians or an oligarchy. It is only safeguarded by voting out of office elected officials that don’t obey our Constitution. We the People must be the ones to do it.
The challenges of the last 8 years — a budget deficit, trade deficit, moral deficit, and leadership deficit —
Unfortunately, we are no longer under the rule of law, but rather are being ruled by the opinions of men. What rule of law would instruct our leaders to take $700 billion dollars from the American worker and give it to hand picked financial institutions for the stated purpose of lending it back to us? What rule of law would take the hard earned dollars of workers here in Maryland and spend it for a dog park in Hercules California or a bike path in San Diego, as is the case with the most recent “stimulus” bill? Now I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with a dog park or bike path. But it is very wrong for our federal leaders to take money from working Americans in Maryland to fund projects in California. That project decision belongs to an individual or a local and/or state authority in California. What rule of law would have Congress pick the winners and losers among business and bailouts?
In 1900 all government spending (local, state and federal combined) was 5% of GDP. 90% of that spending was local government. The state and federal spending combined was 10% of the total government spending. Prior to the recent bailout/stimulus spending, federal spending was 20% of GDP all by itself. This week on C-Span the ranking member on the Ways and Means committee, David Camp, stated that the federal spending as a percentage of the GDP is likely to go from about 20% to 40% under this new spending plan. That puts us in the ball park of socialist France.
The scriptures tell us the borrower is servant to the lender. Increased spending, paid for by increased debt, is enslaving the American worker to international financial institutions. Prior to the bail out and stimulus packages, the federal budget was already 4 ½ times all of the state’s budgets combined. The national debt was large enough to fund the entire Maryland budget for over 200 years. The federal debt plus the entitlement obligations of the federal government are now greater than all American’s net worth combined.
Do we really want the federal government to make all the spending decisions that used to be made and can still be made by individuals, by local government and by state government? Do we really want the federal government to place such a heavy drain on all the financial resources of individuals, local governments and state governments?
The current focus on spending trillions of dollars of working American’s future wealth to delay the repercussions of the out of the control spending of the last eight years, may camouflage the real issue of too much federal government. But it will not fix our economy and does not address our challenges. The CBO has already stated that the current stimulus will hurt the American economy.
In August Congress took a taxpayer paid vacation for the whole month. They didn’t seem to see any of these disasters looming then. Yet when they came back from vacation they where a tremendous hurry to rush through President Bushes Wall Street bailout so they could go on recess. We need statesmen in Washington that will restrain themselves to the least intrusive approach to fulfilling their constitutionally mandated job and leave alone all areas and issues that can be handled locally.
Statesmen in the past have understood this principle. As evidence, here are some quotes from just two of them.
“Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is a necessary evil: in its worst state, an intolerable one.” --Thomas Paine
“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.” --Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.” --Thomas Jefferson
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” --Thomas Jefferson
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” --Thomas Jefferson
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” --Thomas Jefferson
And in light of our Washington leaders stated goal of re-inflating the housing bubble: “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” --Thomas Jefferson
Collins Bailey
Waldorf, Maryland
Mr. Bailey ran as the Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat in 2008 against Democrat Incumbent Steny Hoyer.