More federal government control has made things much better, right?

 

Commentary by James H. Shott

Most Americans probably have at best a foggy concept of the degree to which the federal government intrudes into their lives, and just how many people are paid to conduct that intrusion from dozens, perhaps hundreds, of departments, agencies, bureaus, divisions, boards and other bodies.

In March of this year the U.S. Census Bureau reported that as of March 2010, the last year for which complete data exist, there were 3,007,938 total federal employees, 2,583,768 of them working full-time, with a payroll that month of $16.2 billion.

Depending upon whom you believe, federal employees either make lots more than their private sector counterparts (according to Republicans and other small government advocates) or lots less than private sector employees (according to Democrats and federal employee union leaders). Looking at total wages and benefits, the Republicans and small government advocates are closer to right, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

A CBO report in January of this year concluded that federal employees with no more than a high school education and those with a bachelor’s degree averaged higher total compensation than their private sector counterparts by 36 percent and 15 percent, respectively. But where benefits are concerned, the lower the education level of the federal employee, the greater the disparity in paid benefits. “Average benefits for federal workers with no more than a high school diploma were 72 percent higher than for their private-sector counterparts,” while those “whose education ended in a bachelor's degree were 46 percent higher” than for similar workers in the private sector, whereas workers with “a professional degree or doctorate received roughly the same level of average benefits in both sectors.”

We euphemistically refer to federal government employees as “public servants,” but increasingly it seems that it is we who serve them. And just what is it that they are up to?

Many of them are madly creating rules and regulations with the force of law and enforcing them. Most of them were not created by Congress, the only government branch empowered to create laws, and Congress is not even specifically aware of many or most of them, except when someone writes a letter of complaint. Furthermore, all of this regulating and penalizing often occurs without oversight by anyone besides other bureaucrats.

“A man’s home is his castle” is a phrase that once represented America’s personal freedom, meaning that people enjoyed the position of rulers in their homes, and others had no right to enter without the householder's permission. That is no longer true; now, Washington is in charge.

This situation has become so perverse that attorney and author Mark Levin describes it thus: “America has become a society in which the people are wise enough to select their own leaders, but too incompetent to choose the right lightbulb.” In his brilliant book “Ameritopia: the Unmaking of America” he cites as one example of the degree to which the feds have become entangled in our day-to-day lives the government’s involvement in the food industry where “the federal budget for regulating nearly all aspects of food, from production to consumption, exceeds the entire country’s net farm income.”

And that is just for our food.

Here’s a test: Before reading further, make a list of the things in your most personal space – your home – that government at some level doesn’t regulate. It will not be an impressive or long list.

Now that you have completed the test, here are some of the things in your home about which you have little to say, courtesy of Mr. Levin: washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, dishwashing detergents, microwave ovens, toilets, showerheads, heating and cooling systems, refrigerators, freezers, furnace fans and boilers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, lightbulbs, certain renovations, fitness equipment, clothing, baby cribs, pacifiers, rattles and toys, marbles, latex balloons, matchbooks, bunk beds, mattresses, mattress pads, televisions, radios, cell phones, iPods, and other digital media devices, computer components, video recording devices, speakers, batteries, battery chargers, power supplies, stereo equipment, garage door openers, lawn mowers, lawn darts, pool slides, toothpaste, deodorant, dentures and virtually everything one could put in a medicine cabinet.

Things are not improving under President Barack Obama. Dr. Robert Moffit, writing for The Heritage Foundation, reports that “[s]ince President Obama took office in 2009, federal agencies have issued 75 major regulations with an annual additional cost to the economy of $38 billion. Taken altogether, the Small Business Administration last year estimated that the total cost of America’s regulatory burden reached $1.75 trillion—more than twice what Americans pay in individual income taxes,” and more than the annual budget deficits each year since 2009. And that is just from the federal government; state and local bodies also contribute.

And if it isn’t bad enough that these multitudinous rules and regulations stifle productivity and make things cost a lot more, some of them are manifestly stupid. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee, Wisconsin requires purchasing an expensive license, submitting a pile of paperwork on the inventory to be sold, and a fee based on the length of the "going out of business sale."

What has happened to the “Land of the Free” and the self-reliant spirit that made this country great?

Cross-posted from Observations

Reclaiming America From The Socialists

Reclaiming America From The Socialists
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens Coming Up in Lame Duck Senate?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

According to the Washington Times, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised to bring up the Dream Act during the lame duck session of the Senate when Congress reconvenes after the election.

“The Dream Act would grant legal status and a path to citizenship to illegal immigrant schoolchildren and to illegal immigrants who agree to serve in the U.S. military.” (SOURCE)

In the article by Stephen Dinan entitled: “Reid promises vote on aliens” the Washington Times says the following: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over the weekend promised to force the Senate to vote on an immigration bill, the Dream Act, in a lame-duck session of Congress this month. The article goes on to quote Reid as saying: “I just need a handful of Republicans. I would settle for two or three Republicans to join with me on the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration reform, but they have not been willing to step forward," They want to keep talking about this issue, and I say [it] is demagoguery in its worst fashion and is unfair to the Hispanic community." You may read the entire article at the Washington Times website (SOURCE).

This, dear reader, is just one of the things worrying me about this upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

If the election goes as expected, there will be a host of PO’ed Democrats prowling the halls of Congress looking for one last victory over their victorious conservative opposition. If Reid, as the Senate Majority Leader losses his seat in the Senate, he will be as dangerous as a wounded wolf.
Over the next few weeks we will have to be even more observant of Congress than we have since January of 2007. As we have often been reminded: Out of power, liberals are funny. In power – they are dangerous.

Over in the House of Representatives the story will likely be much the same. With Pelosi on the way out of the Speaker’s office, maybe into retirement, there is likely to be a good deal of vitriol. With tensions so high in both houses of Congress anything could, and probably will, happen. So keep your powder dry!

Today, itself, will be contentious enough. All sorts of mischief will be reported today. This IS Election Day. Tempers are high and fuses are short. There is bound to be some conflict before the polls close on the west coast tonight. I fully expect a number of races to be decided by the courts. In some states we may not know the results of some races for two or more weeks. The next few weeks will be trying for all Americans.

While herds of lawyers are standing by, for all sides in the election, eagle eyes will be watching the polls for any sign of anything that can possibly be construed as a slight, an irregularity, ANYTHING, that might have the slightest, the vaguest chance of nudging the results in favor of their candidate.

The news media will have battalions of reporters swarming polling places in states with high profile races today, as well. THAT will keep the pot boiling into the wee hours and maybe for days to come.

I downloaded a sample ballot from my state board of elections yesterday and went over it several times to be sure I was familiar with it before I even get to the polling place this morning.
I made a mental note of anything that would raise my taxes. I ALWAYS vote against a tax increase in any form. This election is no exception.

Now for a little fun… watch the reaction from the European press when, if all goes as expected, Americans deliver a HUGE repudiation of Obama with their ballots in this election. Make no mistake about it -- this election is a referendum on Obama and his Czars, in fact, the whole darned Obama Regime!

My polling place is approximately one block away from my home. I intend to be there when the doors open. I also intend to do something I highly recommend to all conservative voters today… PRAY before you cast your ballot. I am not attempting to impress you with my piety here. I am trying to impress you with the seriousness of this election. The survival of a FREE AMERICA is at stake today. The cancellation of the socialist agenda, at the ballot box, is imperative if we are to continue to live free in America.

Just as Joshua challenged the Israelites: “Choose ye this day whom you will serve” America has much the same decision to make some 7,000 years later. We can choose to continue to serve God, or we can choose to serve the state. Remember, socialism replaces God with the state.
America has been deeply divided the past few years but the overbearing socialist Obama Regime and the liberal-socialist leadership in the Congress has managed to demonstrate to those having difficulty discerning the inherent evil behind the socialist façade, in such an efficient manner, that a huge percentage of them have seen the error of their ways and are now ready to denounce the socialist path Obama and his minions set for America and now support a “free America” as intended by the founders of this nation.

Let’s Roll, America! Let’s take our country back – and let’s do it today!

J. D. Longstreet