Federal Spending: A Tipping Point

Accuracy in Academia ^ | November 9, 2009 | Allie Winegar Duzett

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Federal Spending: Tipping Point

Allie Winegar Duzett, November 9, 2009

“We need to get a grip on our budget,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) argued at this week’s Heritage Foundation Bloggers’ Briefing. The spending is “out of control,” Rep. Ryan declared, adding that “there is either A) no desire to get it under control, or B) no capacity to get it under control, or a combination of the two.” Rep. Ryan has recently sponsored a bill that would address this problem.

“Our bill … creates a legally binding budget, [and] gives the budget the force of law,” he stated. “The problem is spending. That’s where enforcement should be placed.” He explained that his bill focuses on “real,” “enforceable,” and “firm” caps on spending, both discretionary and mandatory.

Rep. Ryan addressed the issue of “pay-go,” a term referring to a plan that would make taxpayers literally pay as they go with regards to federal spending. “Pay-go is really nothing more than income taxes,” Rep. Ryan said. That is why a bill to curb spending “has to include real spending caps on everything.”

According to Rep. Ryan, his bill would “require Congress to address mounting fiscal burdens heaped upon future generations,” as well as the “huge unfunded obligations that are looming.” This bill also would deal with what Rep. Ryan called “gimmicks”: “We also want to get rid of a lot of the gimmicks,” he said. “Not only the unconstitutional version of line-item veto,” he suggested, but also “earmark reform, and budget for emergencies” should go. He went on to state that these gimmicks were only started “to get around budget caps, such as they’ve existed, and we’ve plugged those holes [in the new bill]… we get at their gimmicks.”...

[listenhillary]

Reduce non-essential government employees to 3 days a week and implement a hiring freeze until the budget is balanced.

[agere_contra]

Hang on. Does his bill curtail spending, or does it rather mandate taxes when spending is too high?

[blam]

Have every department reduce staffing by 30% then do what you said.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Congress can no more control itself than can a severe alcoholic. Likely even with a massive economic collapse, congress would still behave like the government of Zimbabwe. As such, the individual States are readying themselves for what they must eventually do.

Call a constitutional convention.

What for generations was believed to be “unthinkable”, and “a tool for radicals”, is neither. It is the constitutional “fail safe” specifically for the situation we find ourselves in today.

It will not be a populist gesture. Instead it will be for the purposes of restoring constitutional federalism. Inherent in the actions of a constitutional convention is that focus, and to insure that the rest of the document is in conformity with that focus.

This will mean the repeal of the 16th and 17th Amendments, the reorganization of the federal government, to eliminate the majority which is unconstitutional, additional checks to be placed on the judiciary and executive and congress.

Importantly, as one of their first acts, by simple majority vote, they can relieve any federal official, officer, employee, or other such person who attempts to interfere with the convention. And as needed, to compel a criminal sentence on those whose actions attempt to undermine the convention.

The convention will remain seated until first, 3/4ths of the individual States have agreed to its changes, and second, until its edicts have been carried out to its satisfaction.

[Swing_Thought]

Mr. Ryan, Congress ignores the Constitution, so why should anyone think they just won’t ignore this legislation as well?