The god of self-preservation

In a recent interview with The Hill, I was asked to comment on the potential dissolution of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The article states “Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) could be headed toward a conflict with his home-state Tea Party over the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).”

While I, like most tea party people throughout the country, want heightened transparency – the article didn’t mention what I focused on with the interviewer and that is – an Office of Congressional Ethics is great, but clearly it isn’t going to fix anything. Its helps spotlight methods, but won’t do a thing in addressing the real problem.

Why? Because this office can’t address the moral, though not illegal, compromise now permanent in our political class.

They believe in nothing more than self-preservation and only seek change that is possible with this goal in mind.

Every square inch of the system perpetuates its own growth and continuance, and both new and old leadership talk more about navigating the cesspool known as Washington DC than actual solutions. It’s a joke, a slap in the face to the American people.

It’s why we’ve only had half-hearted cries when a stimulus package worth $600 billion has been disguised as “quantitative easing.” Let’s call it what it is – incredible indebtedness and further debasing of our currency all designed to trick the market into using those overextended precious lines of credit that got us here in the first place.

It’s how most of the returning Republican Congressional contingency can look at you with a straight face and tell you they believe in limiting government and spending. Liars. That’s right. Liars.

They are lying to the American people. How can I use such strong terms?

Because most voted for the same garbage during their last opportunity to lead: the largest expansion of Medicare in my lifetime, the liberty killing, privacy stomping Patriot Act, the Keynesian loved Bush Stimulus (aka – The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008), yes – a total redistribution of wealth, No Child Left Behind – a huge power grab by the Federal government now doing its best to destroy any semblance of education in the public school system, TARP – the largest free market intrusion in American history, monstrous expansion of military and foreign aid, and all while they happily sat by as our Fed ballooned our money supply and artificially chopped the interest rates down – designed to stimulate the economy through big government intervention.

This is not limited government. This is not less spending. Saying they believe in something else is a lie.

And, it has started again…the winds of the tea party have given the Republicans control of Congress, but do you think they have started addressing any substantive problems – no.

They are concerned about a bogus earmark ban on discretionary spending. This is like trying to fix a near death, gaping gunshot wound to the chest by looking at the paper cut you just noticed.

Interest and payment on the national debt by itself eclipses entire departmental budgets – and that’s number 4 on the top line items for the federal budget.

The Big 4:
1. Health and Human Services (Medicare and Medicaid) – close to $850 billion per year
2. Social Security – close to $750 billion per year
3. Department of Defense – over $700 billion per year
4. Department of the Treasury – close to $450 billion per year

The next largest spend begins with the Department of Labor at just over $150 billion. Every other department from there is significantly less.

With the exception of Defense, the big 4 are considered non-discretionary spending. So guess what – cutting earmarks and expanding the influence of the Office of Congressional Ethics isn’t going to do crap. Looking for “waste and abuse” isn’t going to do crap. Gimmicked up tax incentives aren’t going to do crap. Platitudes designed to win elections aren’t going to do crap.

With very few exceptions, no one is addressing the real problem – these big 4. This is a problem of math – not of politics.

Couple this with a Federal Reserve that’s completely out of control in its attempt to engineer the economy, and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. By the way – a Federal Reserve which most of these clowns don’t even have the desire to audit and hold accountable.

Myself and few others from the Ohio Liberty Council were in DC this week meeting with some Republican Congressmen about the upcoming year. We wanted to know what would change, what legislation had potential on the agenda, what was the tone in Congress, etc, etc. What we found came as no surprise. There is no real agenda to curb significant spending or even address tough choices.

We asked about leaders in favor of such substantive reform – almost no one.

We asked who would split with party and accept the consequences – almost no one.

We asked about leaders even discussing such substantive reform – almost no one.

Practically no one is willing to bear the political price to address entitlement reform. They’ll keep their heads down – shout across the aisle, stand on platitudes and destroy our Republic.

The Republicans will gimmick up things designed to manufacture prosperity (which can’t be done), and the now fortified and even more purely leftist Dems will continue their quest to manufacture equality. Both will come to an impasse because preservation of the nation in a form consistent with protection of personal liberties isn’t even on the agenda.

In fact, it’s not even part of the equation. They can’t even articulate a governance philosophy because it’s so convoluted with campaign slogans and talking points – they don’t even know what they believe.

Most fascinating question answered by a Congressman on this trip – When will you know if you can work with some of these Congressman toward substantive change? Answer: “We normally know about the freshman in one week.” One week. They turn to lap dogs in one week. Un-freaking-believable!

But hope remains. Not in the men and woman currently occupying our halls of power, but in the newly engaged Americans who are now investing into their own neighborhoods. The hope that comes through strengthening state sovereignty. It’s the hope brought with local ownership of our future and trickle up common sense.

From school boards, city councils, county commissions and state assemblies – we must re-define self-governance and build the machine to wage war on the deeply entrenched political class.

They aren’t going to do this on their own – because they have no incentive to do otherwise. It’s fun to play god. It’s fun to have the special interests at your beckoned call, and it’s much easier to play administrator of the state than defender of the Republic.

They have no guts because it doesn’t behoove them to do right. It’s easier to not rock the boat, and with our expectation to take the more difficult road – we have expected too much. For those who are capable of choosing this road – character is their only guide, and this companion was abandoned long ago at the altar to their all-powerful god of self-preservation.

Do the people of America have the character necessary to overcome the depravity that continues to drive Washington DC?

While not clear just yet – the battle has just begun. Are you in the fight?