It was only nine short months ago that the Republican party gained control of the House of Representatives and through a long and theatrical process elected Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Do you remember the promises made at that time about bringing the House back to ‘normal’ order? What about the promises to reign in government spending? Or the promises to investigate government malfeasance being perpetrated by the Biden Administration and the administrative state?
Fast forward to today and the House of Representatives is about to meet in an effort to ultimately establish the Federal budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. In case you’re wondering, this is a process that should have been completed long before now. So much for bringing the House back to ‘regular order’.
As our elected representatives return from their most recent hiatus, they are faced with either preparing 12 appropriations to fund the separate operations of the Federal government and then moving these appropriations (once approved) to the Senate for their revisions. They then need to meet with the Senate to resolve their differences, ultimately presenting a budgetary plan that will be approved by the Executive Branch. And oh yeah, this is all supposed to get done by the start of the new fiscal year October 1st.
Or, they can do what Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans swore they wouldn’t do and prepare a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government for some period of time until next year’s budget can be finalized.
Of course, if they don’t do anything, the government will be forced to shut down, which given our government’s propensity to spend our money, would likely be the best possible outcome for the American people and might be the only means of truly combating the ‘political inflation’ caused by our ruling aristocracy.
Why should you care? As I outlined in my blog earlier this year concerning the debt ceiling, our politicians are spending us into oblivion and through their actions are ultimately destroying personal wealth and the value of your money. I was skeptical that our elected officials would do the right thing in regards to the debt ceiling and not surprisingly I was proven right as politicians in both parties voted to increase the debt ceiling without any meaningful cuts to the federal budget. As if that weren’t bad enough, they then slapped us in the face by not placing any caps on future spending. So much for Kevin McCarthy’s rhetoric upon assuming leadership of the House. He’s proven to be what he has always been; a phony. And in case you were wondering, because of Kevin McCarthy’s lies and the fecklessness of many House Republicans, the Biden Administration is poised to add another 2 trillion dollars to the debt just this year.
Fast forward to today and due to the lack of any action from our elected officials, we are being told that finalizing a budget is not feasible in advance of October and that we must pass a CR since shutting down the government would be so catastrophic. By the way, you would think that shutting down the government would mean all government activity and spending ceases. If you thought this you would be wrong. In fact, even during a government shutdown the majority of the government operates in a normal manner. The government ultimately shuts down ‘non-essential’ functions, which in government vernacular means almost nothing.
Should we be surprised by our government’s incompetence? Absolutely not. In fact, this is not incompetence (if so, it could almost be excused), it is actually planned. Why would our elected officials operate in this manner? Like everything they do, operating in this manner is in their interest. The people be damned! By failing to pass a budget on time (the last time this happened was 1996 and it has occurred only 4 times in the last 40 years) our politicians and their friends in the American Aristocracy can decry the need for stop gap spending and then under the cover of darkness around the holidays push through massive government spending while the people have their attention diverted. This is exactly how last year’s Omnibus Bill was passed. And what do these spending bills have in common? They all authorize spending which benefits politicians and special interests directly at the expense of the people.
If you want to know why our debt continues to skyrocket and why our elite continue to gain wealth and power while the majority of the people get poorer, you now know the reason.
So, what can you do? Of course, you can vote any incumbent politician out of office – assuming elections are not corrupt. Or, you can call your Congressman and Senators and pressure them to stop this madness! Take action! Call them now at 202-224-3121.
Tired of the Washington establishment? If so, in addition to voting incumbent politicians out of office there is a way to lessen the damage being caused by lifetime politicians. It’s called the Article V Convention of States and it’s a movement of citizens of all political parties who are tired of the status quo. Article V of the Constitution provides a mechanism for the States to amend the Constitution. How do amendments for Congressional Term Limits and a Balanced Budget sound? If they sound good to you click here to sign the Article V Convention of States petition and begin putting pressure on your State legislators to call for a Convention.
Next Up: The Woeful State of Immigration