Using Ted Stevens As A Spark For Governmental Reform

Posted by Chris Connolly on 08.06.2008

It's time to make lemonade out of lemons...

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is not the problem. He, like Democratic Congressman William Jefferson and Democratic Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad are merely symptoms of the problem. We have allowed our Federal government to become too powerful, too expansive and too costly. Limiting lobbying will not solve the problems of corruption and out of control spending we are facing today. If we want to change the way business is done in Washington, we need true reform. That means changing the way the government itself works. Here is the way to do it:

Balanced Budget Amendment

The first order of business should be to force Congress to stop spending money they do not have. Ordinary Americans have to make sure they live within their means or the collection agencies come calling. Since the Feds don't have to operate under that threat, we need a Constitutional amendment to force them to become more fiscally responsible. With that in place, they would no longer be able to spend billions of dollars they don't have on projects we don't need.

True Tax Reform

No matter what tax bracket you are in, the government is squeezing money out of you. Income tax, SS tax, capital gains, the list goes on and on. Once the balanced budget amendment is passed, we need true tax reform so that Congress can't cover a shortfall by jacking up tax rates or coming up with another gimmick tax.

The first thing that needs to go is our tax code. It's too long, too complicated and arbitrarily favors some groups of taxpayers over others. We need to replace it with either a 10% National Sales Tax that excludes basic necessities like food or a 15% Flat Tax that excludes the first $20K of income, with an additional per child exclusion. Either of those options would treat everyone equally, and free up money for ourselves and our families, instead of feeding the government beast.

All other taxes need to go as well. The money from those taxes that is supposed to go to specific programs ends up being used to fund pork projects anyway. Things like gas taxes and Social Security taxes hit lower income Americans harder than the rest. By keeping the money in their pocket, they would be able to better provide for themselves.

Before anyone goes off on a rant about Social Security, let me explain. The "trust fund" is an accounting trick. Right now Congress uses those tax dollars to fund pet projects. There is no account with your name on it with the money you paid into the system sitting in DC waiting for you when you retire. Do we need to ensure that everyone who is currently relying on SS gets their money? Yes. But aside from the people who are currently receiving those benefits or those who are due to start collecting them in the next 15-20 years, we do not need to keep pouring money into a broken system. With the easy access we have today to retirement planning options, people should become more self reliant and not sit around thinking the government will pick up their retirement tab. Same goes for Medicare.

Return Federal Spending to the role envisioned in the Constitution

In regards to the federal government, the Constitution limits its role to providing for the national defense and regulating interstate commerce. Since the Civil War, we have seen that limitation get completely ignored by all three branches of government. States have become complicit in this, as they have sat back and done nothing to stop the Feds from taking roles reserved to them by the 10th Amendment.

In order to truly stop the expansion of government, this must end.

The first step is to eliminate several government agencies. There is no constitutional reason for us to have departments like Education, Commerce, Agriculture, NEA, etc. These are all state functions and should be returned to them.

Second, we need to eliminate all subsidies and corporate welfare. If a product cannot survive in a free market, then it should fail, not be artificially propped up with taxpayer money. Also, subsidies interfere with natural market forces, inflating prices and creating artificial demand, both of which hurt consumers.

For the spending and regulation that survives the first two steps, there needs to be one final hoop it must jump through before being allowed to be enacted. It should have to pass a "strict scrutiny" test. Much like the test used by courts, it should be narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest using the least restrictive (or costly) means available.

Once a piece of legislation passes these hurdles, we need to make sure that it is effective. Right now we have who knows how many ineffective, wasteful programs that continue despite their failure, along with programs that overlap. Every program should have a way to measure whether or not it works. There should be a timeline for implementation and for specific goals to be reached. If the program fails in these areas, it should be automatically terminated.

Term Limits

Serving in the legislature was never intended by the Founding Fathers to be a permanent career move. Ben Franklin even went so far as to suggest that in order to deter people from seeking to become career congressmen that they should not get paid.

Since they won't give up their cushy taspayer-supported seats voluntarily (*cough*RobertByrd*cough*), we need to enact a Constitutional amendment to limit their terms like we have for the president. For instance, I think two terms for Senate seats and 3 or 4 terms for House seats would be the right lengths of time. That way we could force them to get a real job like the rest of us.

Along with the time limitation, their compensation needs to be reformed. It is time that they stop living like royalty on our tax dollars and start living like public servants. During their time in Congress, they should only get a salary that allows them to pay for living expenses and health care. That means no more footing the bill for luxury car rentals, drivers, etc. Congressional pensions would go as well.

Aside from the money these steps would save, there would also be the added benefit of stripping people in Congress of power. By limiting their time in Washington, you also limit their ability to become influencial power brokers. Combined with the strict spending limitations I've proposed, this takes away the reasoning for 99% of the lobbying that occurs today. The formula is rather simple: no money + no influence= no lobbyists.

How do we bring about these changes?

In 1995 when the Republicans took control of Congress, they tried and failed to enact both term limits and a balanced budget amendment. Due to the larger vote margin required, it is highly doubtful that either of these could be brought about through the federal legislature. Instead, we would have to start a grassroots movement for them through the states. If we could get enough support so that 2/3 of the states called for a Constitutional Convention, we could propose them there. If 3/4 of the state legislatures or conventions approve them, we can start to take back control of our government.

In order to ensure that the new tax system could not be tampered with, we would have to make that a constitutional amendment as well.

As for eliminating agencies, reducing salaries, etc., the only practical way to do so is electing a hell of a lot more economic libertarians and conservatives who truly believe in limited government.

If Jefferson or Madison were to come back today and look at our government, they would be ashamed of not only the people in charge but also of us for doing nothing to stop them. It is time we stand up as a nation and say "ENOUGH!". The Founders gave us the tools to end this insanity. We just need to be bold enough to use them.