Posted on 02/20/2011 12:56:29 PM PST by Brices Crossroads
As 2012 approaches, the State of the Union is grave indeed. Our economy is principally threatened by an explosion of federal spending which, if left unchecked, will bury us all in a red inked sea of hyper-inflation, chronic double digit unemployment and shortages. The America we grew up in will cease to exist. Two things seem to me to be essential: 1) A leader with a steel spine who is both principled and fearless in attacking the Leviathan and all its shibboleths; and 2) A platform, a mandate and policies that will both starve and neuter the federal government. In Sarah Palin we have the former. Now for the Platform.
It seems to me that a double edged sword is necessary to address the current crisis. First, a return to the Reagan tax rates of 28%, which were the law in 1988 before being hiked by Bush and then Clinton, and now sit temporarily at 35%, with a scheduled increase to 39.6% in 2012. A platform of "Restore the Reagan Rates" would both starve the leviathan of the funds it needs to grow and give the American taxpayer a vested interest in the next crucial edge of the sword: Deep and certain spending cuts. It would also provide a seamless connection between the beloved 40th President and the soon-to-be 45th President that would resonate politically among an electorate nostalgic for the authentic goodness and greatness of the Gipper.
However, the fly in this ointment is quite apparent as well. To rely upon Congress to reduce spending is a fool's errand at best and Governor Palin is no fool. Congress' cowardice was on full display just last week when it rejected as "draconian" (with the support of 92 Republicans, including TEA party poseurs Allen West and Kristi Noem, to name just two) a modest $22 billion across the board cut in the $3.65 trillion behemoth that is Obama's budget. If, on the heels of the great GOP sweep powered by the TEA Party, the nebbishes in the GOP cannot find it within themselves to cut a measly $22 billion (a little more than half of one per cent) from this monster, even the election of Governor Palin is unlikely to stiffen their spines. She is going to have to do it herself. But how, you ask?
The answer: IMPOUNDMENT. Impoundment is simply the decision by the Executive not to spend funds appropriated by Congress. It had been exercised by every President from John Adams to Richard Nixon and had proved very useful in lowering the deficit. In 1973-4, Nixon impounded $12 billion in wasteful spending, about 4% of the federal budget. (A similar 4% slice today would pare Obama's budget by $146 billion!). So what became of impoundment? The Watergate Congress, drunk on its power, passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which purported to make the old practice of presidential impoundment illegal and ordered the Executive Branch to spend every dollar that would ever be appropriated for it by Congress in the future. The administration contended that Congress was arrogating to itself a constitutional authority that belonged to the President as head of the Executive Branch under Article II, that is: management and control over all executive branch agencies, but a lower Federal Court upheld the Congress' position on this matter, and the weak-willed Gerald Ford chose to acquiesce in this lower court ruling rather than appeal to the Supreme Court.
Consequently, since the 1970s, deficits have exploded. Rather than address them by challenging the unconstitutional Budget Control and Impoundment Act, the Establishment in Washington has passed unconstitutional legislation of its own such as the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which allowed the President to repeal specific statutory appropriations, without Congressional approval thus violating the presentment clause, as the Court held in 1998 in Clinton v. New York. Article II of the Constitution gives the President the authority to manage federal agencies, but not the unilateral power to repeal statutes (as the line item veto act purported to do). Similarly, Article I gives the Congress the power to appropriate funds for government agencies, but Congress is nowhere empowered to order that those funds be spent. The Budget Control and Impoundment Act of 1974 is as unconstitutional as the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 and for similar reasons. Both violate the Separation of Powers doctrine. One has been challenged and struck down, while the other has been acquiesced in. Such acquiescence in unconstitutional behavior is a luxury this country can no longer afford.
And what should Governor Palin do about this? First, she should campaign on a platform by which she pledges on her first day in office to have her Attorney General file suit in federal court for declaratory and injunctive relief that the Budget Control and Impoundment Act is unconstitutional and further pledging that her Administration will pursue this case to the Supreme Court, provisionally impounding funds, which she deems largesse, in the interim.
Second, she should pledge to introduce legislation on the first day of her Administration to repeal the Budget Control and Impoundment Act and make this pledge part of the GOP platform drafted in Tampa. Further, she should challenge all GOP congressional candidates to run on a pledge of voting to repeal the Budget Control and Impoundment Act. Those who refuse should receive no political support from her or financial support from the RNC.
In taking these measures, she will cement her bond with the TEA party and prevent it from becoming dispirited by the treacherous behavior of those it so recently supported. Moreover, she can distance herself from the feckless Congress and the GOP Establishment, running against both Obama and his Congressional enablers, both Democrat and GOP. Moreover, she can forge a durable alliance with the vast majority of overtaxed Americans, who are desperate to rein in government spending but have just about despaired of finding anyone who is serious about doing it.
The twin slogans of "Restore the Reagan Rates" and "Clip the Congress' Wings" should be her clarion call as she sallies forth to do battle on our behalf.
(((((PING)))))
Ping!
We did it at the same time.
The lady has a spine of steel tis true, and that is the one thing that is never mentioned, and vastly underrated. Policy wonks always cave because it is in their nature. We don’t need someone who has a grasp of the minute details, we need someone who will draw a line in the sand and then dare the DINOS AND RINOS to cross it. Sarah is great because Sarah is good. Amen.
This is a joke.
She has yet to disappoint me in any way. She is an unusually gifted communicator, but better than that is she has true values, faith, family, conservative common sense, integrity, she is not afraid of taking on the big ole boys, she is for stopping waste, cutting the budget, and for drilling for oil in Alaska, off shore, Montana, Dakota, and all know areas in the US, where it is known oil is there and ready for the drilling.
She has/is not been corrupted by Washington DC politics. It is almost a miracle, actually it is a miracle. She is smart, all Presidents need advisers to keep them informed and up to the minute on world affairs. Multiple opinions and information comes in to be considered on major decisions. State Dept., Defense Dept., whole advisory board on the economy. I believe she can cut through the BS, make the hard decision and do the best for America. GO Sarah!
And she was transfigured before them, and her face shone like the sun, and her clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with her. And Countyline said to Sarah, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."
Translation: get a friggin' grip.
Hey BR, have you faxed at least the last 3 or 4 paragraphs of the above to SarahPAC? Offered your services?
Have you volunteered to be on her transition committee? ;-)
BR? Who’s that?
I, of course, meant BC
Do you have coo coo clock, are do you pretend to be one????
Ping for Impoundment!
PALIN FOR IMPOUNDMENT!!!
Pretty PETULANT Presidential Planning!
PISSANT PUSHES PRUDENCE!
I love this impoundment idea. Thanks for bringing it up. I am planning on sending a link to your post to Gov. Palin, and to her key people. Who knows if she’ll read it, but it’s important to bring up. I agree: impoundment is a very powerful tool in the hands of a limited-government President.
Very interesting ideas you propose.
this is why while footsoldiers are important. It is imperative that we elect conservatives to positions of leadership.
Thanks for passing the idea along, backwoods engineer. I am anxious that the Governor see it. She is probably aware of the concept of impoundment, since I know she is ahead of the curve on these things. It is consistent with the kind of constitutional reorientation of government that she identifies with. And it places her squarely in opposition to the big spenders in Congress and to Obama and on the side of the people and the TEA PARTY, which is the winning side politically. It will also give an urgency and impetus to her election, since it is an idea which, if successfully implemented, can allow her to do unilaterally what Congress lacks the will to do, that is: to cut spending. It is a win-win both politically and in terms of policy. And the earlier she promotes it, the stronger will be her claim that she has a mandate after the election to do it.
Thanks, Al. I appreciate the kind words.
An Alliterative tour de force, Candor7! Methinks it will prove too much for the PDS chorus and its chieftain, the honorable ——ant.
They must have taken the weekend off.
Pusillanimous Poofters!
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