Fixing the Federal Mess Part 4 of 4: Where do We Go from Here?
The mess in which this nation finds itself today was created over nearly a century. If you don't understand that mess and how it was created, then, sorry to say, you are a major part of the problem. If you do understand, then you probably feel frustrated that so many others do not! What to do?
The mess in which this nation finds itself today was created over nearly a century. If you don't understand that mess and how it was created, then, sorry to say, you are a major part of the problem. If you do understand, then you probably feel frustrated that so many others do not! What to do?
If we are to save our nation, we must take strong action to dismantle the progressive abuses to our Constitution over the past century. This is it. We're out of time. No more delusions that we can fix this mess with a tweak of the tax code coupled with some spending cuts.
We must attack the root cause of the problem. You cannot fix a toothache by taking a pain pill. We've been taking "pain pills" periodically to create the illusion of fixing the progressive mess. But the infection has gotten to the point that only a root canal will save our nation. We must root out and disband or devolve every unconstitutional program, agency, and department of the Federal government.
There really are only two major paths we can follow. Either we continue the path of "business-as-usual"î unconstitutional "progressive" politics, or we take the severe and necessary steps toward saving our constitutional republic. The business-as-usual "fixes" come in the form of tax code adjustments and nominal spending cuts while completely ignoring the elephant in the room, unsustainable "entitlement" programs and the unconstitutional governance that brought us such programs.
Lets examine the consequences of following each of these alternative paths.
Business-as-usual with tax code tweaks and nominal spending cuts.
This is the politicians' "solution" -- the solution of those same politicians who created the mess we're in today. It completely ignores "the elephant in the room" and will not work.
Why won't it work? Because it is like taking a pain-killer to "fix" an abscessed tooth. It might create a temporary sense of relief, but the underlying "root" causes of the problem would not be removed. Leaving in place the source of the problem will not solve the problem.
What kind of future will such an approach bring? Politicians will continue to play partisan politics. Republicans will propose tax and spending cuts to "solve" the problem. Democrats will propose raising taxes on the "rich" while demagoguing the issue by claiming Republican cuts are aimed at the poor while enriching the wealthy.
Neither approach will solve the problem because both avoid the source of the problem -- unconstitutional governance that has ballooned unsustainable entitlement programs over the past several decades.
Should Republicans succeed with simply cutting taxes and spending, the impact would be minimal and would not produce the sustained economic growth of the Reagan era when Reagan's tax cuts alone were sufficient to turn a stagnant economy around. The subsequent growth of entitlement programs and their unsustainable costs cannot be ignored. Yet, the tax and spending cut approach ignores this "elephant in the room." Following this path would be akin to taking a temporarily effective pain-killer while the decay that is the root cause of the pain continues to progress unabated.
Should Democrats succeed in raising taxes, there would be no benefit whatsoever. Such a move would be akin to firing a torpedo at a sinking ship. It would yield less revenue because it would further suppress the economy raising unemployment and increasing unemployment compensation costs. This approach ignores the "elephant in the room" while unwittingly feeding the elephant!
Both approaches will assure that there is more polarity by creating great divides in the nation pitting poor against rich, young against old, race against race, etc., with the mainstream media dutifully supporting Democratic demagoguing of every issue by blaming all our problems on Republicans. This is a childish, self-destructive path that will lead to the financial and political collapse of our nation. A critical mass will be reached that either will lead to violent revolution/counter-revolution (civil war) that tears our nation further apart, or will produce a silent revolution as the greedy-needy become the dominant electorate that pushes our nation deeper into the quagmire of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" national socialism.
This path truly leads to a dead end.
Saving our constitutional republic.
This is the only path that acknowledges and deals with the elephant in the room -- unsustainable progressive entitlement programs that are the source of our financial and political decay.
This approach involves three major undertakings:
Enacting constitutional amendments to exorcise progressive unsustainable and unconstitutional programs from our federal government.
Devolving unconstitutional departments, agencies and programs from the federal government to state governments in a transition that protects current beneficiaries.
Removing insane restrictions on domestic energy production to facilitate rather than obstruct domestic production of oil, gas, and coal to achieve complete energy independence from all foreign energy sources.
The first two undertakings have been discussed at length earlier in this Fixing the Federal Mess series. Let's consider what is needed to reverse energy restrictions.
If the first two steps are accomplished, then many of the restrictions on energy production would be removed as unconstitutional agencies such as EPA would be disbanded and their regulations nullified. This would have an immediate effect of spurring enormous economic activity within the United States to find and extract plentiful and relatively inexpensive fossil fuels under more reasonable environmental regulations of the states. There is little likelihood that industry would revert to air and water pollution given (1) state environmental protection regulations and, (2) public awareness that would punish such behavior.
All federal subsidies for alternate energy schemes must be terminated as they constitute a federal involvement in energy business that is not sanctioned by our Constitution. With hundreds of years of fossil fuel resources within the United States, it is not even prudent for private concerns to expend resources trying to make unprofitable alternate energy schemes profitable with the technology of today. Much better to be patient for 150 years of so and allow knowledge and technologies to vastly improve to the point were efficient, highly economic methods for alternate energy generation become practical.
Federal bureaucrats have only been able to create an artificial market for alternate energy schemes through a persistent, tightening of unwarranted restrictions on domestic fossil fuel energy recovery. Even under this scenario that artificially skyrockets fossil fuel energy costs, large ongoing federal subsidies for alternate energy schemes are required. This is a truly insane approach.
By removing excessive restrictions on energy production, prices for fossil energy will dramatically drop, resulting in lower costs for transportation fuel and electricity. The vast boom that would be created in energy production alone would spike our economy. That, coupled with dramatic declines in transportation and electricity costs will further lower prices and spurn new economic activities in other areas as an economy-friendly, minimally-invasive federal government operating within constitutional restraints takes hold.
This "energy boom" would be coupled with the enormous economic stimulus from massive reduction in federal government costs producing an end to federal deficits, stabilization and strengthening our the dollar, and a real beginning of federal debt reduction.
The constitutional republic renaissance would be coupled with an economic renaissance not experienced in this country for more than 100 years.
Following such a path would be the surest way to low unemployment, rising living standards for everyone, and assuring a healthy restoration of our constitutional republic where the many states take on the reigns of managing innovation with social programs as the people of each state determine what is in their best interests under their own state constitution.
Summary.
It should be apparent that the "easy" solution ("business-as-usual" politics) is no solution at all and will surely lead to a rapid deterioration of our nation under the burden of unsustainable government spending.
The only solution that promises a bright future for all Americans is also the very toughest solution requiring the greatest change. It is also the solution that would be fought against by many of what I term "the usual suspects" -- an unholy alliance of major news media, progressive education institutions (including public schools), the greedy needy and their allies, and demagoguing politicians who are aided and abetted by the politically myopic platitude-parrots of the Left.
Is there sufficient public and political will to restore our constitutional republic and the economic health and well-being of our nation?
Do the American People have sufficient comprehension of the dangers that face this nation so they will demand the solutions needed to save our constitutional republic?
These are questions whose answers will determine the future survival of this nation.
Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.
A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.
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