WE THE PEOPLE vs THE POLITICAL ELITE

As of December 2008, the confidence of the “People” of the United States of America in their Representatives and Senators in the U.S. Congress stood at or below 7%. Ask yourselves; “What does my government do that does not encroach on my ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness? Does my government do anything that benefits my family or me without first taking something from another family, citizen or business?”

As stated in the Declaration of Independence [read this statement carefully], “….all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” Ongoing re-election of the individuals responsible for incompetent and often criminal governance supports the conclusions of our Founding Fathers.

The reasons for continued re-election of the evil-doers in Washington, despite their ineptitude and abuse lie in the successful organization and promotion of the Republican and Democrat parties and their respective allegiances to certain groups and special interests. The reliance of the two major political parties on the concept of class warfare and large contributions of money by special-interest individuals, businesses and groups has served to undermine the protections of the U.S. Constitution. By design, Democrats and Republicans sell their offices and influence to assure their control of a self-serving political order. So-called “campaign contributions” are nothing less than bribery!

Legislators at the federal level, and to a serious degree the state level, neither represent the interests of individual citizens, nor fear retribution from them. Those legislators have successfully secured their power with large sums of money confiscated from those whom they were elected to represent. That confiscation has, since ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, taken the forms of licensing, the levy of fees and heavy taxation affecting nearly every sale, purchase or ownership of products and services, and most recently, suggested taxation of certain behaviors. Government contempt for the People and the rule of law is evidenced by an open disregard for and sabotage of attempts by the People to reform their governments.

In difficult economic times, our legislators and executives, who lately have begun to openly refer to themselves as “rulers”, call for sacrifice by the individual citizen. There have been only rare instances of similar sacrifice on the parts of any of our elected officials. As the American citizen struggles, legislators about to receive another increase in salary continue to increase spending programs, government salaries and benefits, taxes, bureaucracies and deficits while at the same time proclaiming to have cut spending.

Local, state and federal agencies and government personnel use the taxpayers’ money to lobby for more of the taxpayers’ money and to print and distribute what amounts to purely partisan propaganda and campaign literature. Elected officials re-distribute the earnings of productive citizens in shameless attempts to purchase the votes of those referred to as “victims” of circumstance, discrimination and the “rich”.

In spite of high fees and taxes of every description, many of our cities are in varying states of deterioration. In spite of high fuel taxes, tolls and licensing fees, our highway and rail infrastructure are in various states of often dangerous disrepair. In spite of all of the confiscatory fees and taxes paid by American businesses and the People, state budgets are stressed and some states are near bankruptcy. Our federal government, never having enough of our money, has created a deficit of over $12 TRILLION. That deficit is represented by 219 MILLION times the 2007 median household income of $50,233 or 385 MILLION times the October 2008 real disposable per capita income of $28,580.

What, exactly, is TWELVE TRILLION DOLLARS?
· Over 530,215 tons of gold [football field covered to 17 feet high]
· A stack of $1 bills 746,527 miles high [to the moon 3 times]
· Nearly $402 MILLION expenditure every day of your life for 75 years

Do you think your so-called representatives in Washington, D.C. really know what a TRILLION dollars is? Do you think they care? Keep in mind that I have been discussing the deficit….the amount of money we owe to folks like Japan, China and investors who have purchased US debt instruments. The interest on that debt is projected to cost taxpayers over $37,543,000,000 in 2009.

President Obama told us that we can plan on running TRILLION dollar deficits every year for the foreseeable future. Are you beginning to see a picture of governments with never-ending appetites for your hard-earned money? Is it by chance that governments have buried many of their taxes within the apparent prices that you pay for all your wants and needs while displaying a casual attitude as they discuss the TRILLIONS they plan to spend?

We are taxed when we make money, spend money, save money, invest money and when we die. [zavatu.blogspot.com]

As an example of government waste and incompetence, I offer the U.S. Department of Energy, established in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. The DOE budget for 2008 exceeded $26 Billion. What have they been doing with that money for the last 32 years and why do we not have an effective energy policy? Employing nearly 16,000 at nearly 50 locations, the department spent over $780 per hour in 2008…..on what?!

I suggest that easy access to our personal incomes accompanied by the ability and willingness to print money has led our government officials to dispense with much of the U.S. Constitution in favor of strong central planning by a self-anointed elite class in Washington, D.C. No, they have not openly proclaimed themselves to be an elite class. However, if we are to be students of reality, we must evaluate their actions rather than their words.

The obvious arrogance of our government officials has led them to believe that they can effectively control all aspects of our economy and our lives and that the capitalist approach to economics is passé. They have decided that the productive persons in our society are evil opportunists and responsible for the disadvantages and failures of those “victims” who are, for whatever reason, not productive or self-sufficient.

Redistribution of wealth is now practiced through subsidies, tax abatements and preferential legislation not only in the name of the so-called poor and disadvantaged, but to the benefit of private corporations and wealthy individuals, both domestic and foreign. All of this is accomplished at the expense of individual taxpayers who endure an ever-increasing tax burden. Many citizens have accepted the suggestion by legislators that we are not yet taxed enough….compared to other “industrialized countries”.

The time has come to “out” the socialists in our government….to define socialism and all its evils as well as its proponents. Socialism has, for decades, crept into our politic and finally has become a relevant subject for political debate. California Democrat, Maxine Waters, proclaimed during the House hearings with oil industry executives in 2008 that she would “take over” the oil industry if she had her way. President-elect, Obama, has stated his desire for $5 per gallon gasoline to force Americans to accept so-called environmental responsibilities. Mr. Obama has also called for higher taxes on “rich” citizens so that he may “spread the wealth around.”

National health-care has been a high-priority matter for Democrats in Washington. Could it be the solution to our social security mess? Can the elderly, the very people who fought the most recent wars and built the finest economic machine in the world, expect to receive efficient and effective medical care from a socialist government program managed by the same people that robbed our social security program, brought us the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac debacle and still fail to protect our borders from drugs, illegal immigration and worse? Perish the thought that our leaders might withhold some forms of health care from senior citizens in hopes of reducing the burden on the bankrupt social security system.

Increasingly vile and inappropriate rhetoric and lies serve to incite and confuse the electorate. Todays politic is absent the concepts of representation, honor, statesmanship and loyalty to the oath of office. Only one thing can explain, but not justify, the extreme expenditures, hateful rhetoric and outright lies that occur to political campaigns at every level…...money! Follow the money. Like it or not, it always comes down to the money.

The Founders did not envision the lifetime politician, but instead expected a degree of community service that would see the politician return to his previous vocation after serving his country for a short period. Today, the political debate begins with questions about qualifications….qualifications that are expected to include substantial previous experience in government positions.

Although Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states that; “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:…”, federal legislators have gradually created for themselves an elitist class; well paid, well protected and well insulated from the rest of us. The salaries, expenses, benefits and limited accessibility by those unable to pay or provide favors provide them a guarantee of a high standard of living, a large staff allowance, a very short work-week and a low degree of accountability. The Founders spoke often of their fears of corruption that often accompanies positions of power.

Today’s elected official demands and expects to be treated as “Nobility”. Again, evaluate actions rather than words. Qualification for “service” in any of the three branches of government may be translated to mean loyalty to the party and to the task of perpetuating the status-quo, the gravy train to fame, power and fortune. It all comes down to political teamwork and proper designation of the beneficiaries of one’s influence. It all comes down to the money.

Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution states, in part; “They [legislators] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” Our elected officials have taken advantage of this clause to the detriment of our country often committing crimes for which they avoid civil and criminal penalties that would accrue to “the normal citizen”, as they often refer to us. Again, such terminology belies the class distinction they have come to recognize for themselves.

The pre-amble to the Declaration of Independence proclaims that [again, you may need to read this a couple of times] “…..a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Although the purpose of this dissertation is not to call for the dissolution of “political bands” connecting the United States of America to another people or sovereign state, it is most appropriate to resurrect the form and substance of the original Declaration in pointing to the long-standing and on-going usurpation and abuse of powers and authority by those persons at all levels of government 230 years after the writing of our Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration, likely the most important document of that day, laid out the foundation for our Constitution, and as importantly, the responsibilities of the People who would benefit from the guarantees offered by our republican form of government. The Declaration also warned of personal shortcomings that may lead to the abuse of power by our governments. Further, we were therein warned of our own disposition to allow government abuse of its authority and its citizens. Aside from the equality of men and our rights to life, liberty and happiness, the Declaration was very plain when stating that our government derives its “just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Declaration goes on to say; “…that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Further clarifying their intent, the Founders stated, “….when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them [the People] under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

The apparent complacency of the People has emboldened politicians at every level. Our so-called leaders have, like children, tested the People and the states by extending their impositions ever more deeply into the properties and rights of those they govern.

As an example of such abuse, our elected officials and most government employees enjoy early retirements [at age 50 or below] with large pensions and life-time health insurance….all at the expense of the productive taxpayer. In 2008, government employees in Michigan outnumbered their private sector counterparts for the first time. Those in the productive private sector enjoy lower incomes and smaller benefits than the non-productive government employees they support through their hard work and high taxes. Government employees and elected officials express, through their actions, an assertion of irrevocable entitlement to such exceptional compensation.

Since 1884, members of both chambers of the Congress have taken the following oath of office:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Based upon the actual performance of our elected officials, not only does it appear that many of them do not take their oaths of office seriously, their subsequent behaviors often display a contempt for the limitations levied upon them by the Constitution. Never-ending attempts at twisting and bending the meaning of every aspect of the document attest to their frustration with its necessary encumbrances.

The three branches of government and all of the bureaucratic functions and employees associated with them have become a self-serving and self-perpetuating monster that contradicts every attempt by the Founders to limit the powers of government to those necessary to provide for the national defense, provide a stable currency and adjudicate disputes. Much of the legislation that proceeds from the Congress is designed to make the states and the People subservient to the federal government. This is one of the many ways that our Congress has usurped the powers of the states and the People. The Founding Fathers intended that government be subservient to the People, and not become the overreaching, centralized and unaccountable government that we have today.

Elections have become disgraceful exhibitions with candidates limited to only those approved by the two major parties. We have all witnessed the expense to which Democrats and Republicans will go to prevent participation in the election process by candidates from other parties and from voters in our military and other venues. Such approval is given only to those who tow the established party line….those whose allegiance is to the status quo of politic rather than to the constituents asked to elect them.

Party and politic are first while the People receive only the attention or funding necessary to secure votes. The intent of the parties is clearly designed to give the electorate no meaningful choice. The mutually shared goal of both parties is to defend their political power and privileges from all challengers and from every attempt to diminish their authority.

Post election, all attention turns again to the special interests and “fund-raising” activities. The hundreds of millions of dollars required to run for federal office creates another nearly insurmountable obstacle for third-party candidacies.

During political campaigns, substantial effort is expended to preclude presentation of meaningful information about the candidates. Concealment replaces candid discussion of a candidate’s qualifications and political views. Most effort is spent in attempts to embarrass the other side, as is done by children who are too young to have acquired the poise and wisdom required to properly express themselves. Until now, it appears that the electorate, too, is immature and willing to accept such unprofessional conduct with little protest.

What can be done to cast off this government that no longer represents the will of the People? The answer does not lie in the reformation of either of the Democrat or Republican parties. Both are too deeply entrenched in the elitist culture, and beyond salvation. Neither will relinquish their positions or power. There are very few real differences between the two parties regarding the retention of power. Both neglect the People in favor of their varied special interests and influence-peddling activities. Remember the phrase; “Follow the money [favors]”? The candidate with the most money generally gets the job.

Some of the People, in many cases, have chosen to pursue gain through manipulation of government officials at the unfair expense of others. Such people are the allies of the political elite who are destroying the legacies of our forefathers, our fallen soldiers and our inventors, entrepreneurs and hard-working labor forces. Such people have chosen to blind themselves to the prospect of tyranny by the political elite for the political favors to be obtained.

The bottom line about our current governments is this; Our elected officials no longer represent us, but cater to special interests from whom they obtain ‘favors’, votes and the ability to remain in power to further interests contrary to the intent of the Constitution and the People.

The bottom line about “We the People” is this; what, if anything, are we going to do about our corrupt governments? Will we save our country and all that it can offer….or are we destined to watch it die as we, only occasionally, remove our heads from “where the sun don’t shine” or pray for “someone else” to fix the problems? Perhaps the federal grand jury can provide a means to attack the problems threatening to destroy our country.

Perhaps it is too late. Perhaps too many of us have cast off the notions of pride and honor. Perhaps too many of us have chosen “victimhood” with an eye on special consideration and monetary favors. Perhaps personal ethics have, for too long, succumbed to wants of immediate gratification and pseudo-prestige.