As I sat at my computer the other day reading an article about all the pork barrel projects that are attached to legislation the thought came to my mind, I don't believe I gave them permission to spend my money that way. Then it occurred to me that “we” as Americans did give them permission to spend our money in any way they please, with very little accountability. It's time to change all that!
The executive and legislative branches of government have clearly lost sight of the fact that their authorities to govern are derived from the consent of the governed. Perhaps it is not enough to elect new officials periodically. Maybe it is time we keep tabs on the elected officials while they do their jobs and ask them to consult us, obtain our approvals if you will, for things that affect our lives and our pocket books. Perhaps it is time to ask them to be the public servants they swore to be when they took their oaths of office.
United States Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia is the oldest member in the Senate and I believe he has served longer than any other member in the Senate. So it does stand to reason that he would be responsible for attaching more pork barrel projects, tied to his state, to legislation than any other member of congress. Is this an indictment of Senator Byrd? Quite the contrary! Senator Byrd takes care of his constituents and has broken no laws in doing that.
However, I wonder if the good Senator would have been so successful in attaching all those pork barrel projects to pieces of legislation if “we the people” had the final say on whether, or not, that money was spent at all, much less for his state. Would he be the oldest United States Senator with the longest seniority if he had never gotten those pork barrel projects for his state? That is a question to which we will never know the answer.
The real question is, how many in congress owe there jobs to the fact that they deliver special projects and federal funding to their respective states, at the expense of other programs? Senator Byrd is not the only person at the trough, he is just the one who has wallowed in the mud the longest and has the fattest pork belly from all the wallowing.
Is there a solution? Yes, there is, and it really is not as complicated as one may think if Americans are willing to take a bit of responsibility. Realizing that is a bit more than some people want to do without some prompting, maybe the following will serve as an attention getter, a wake-up call, etc.
Let's be extremely generous here and give congress credit for working 40 hour work week, just like us normal folks; the governed from whom they get their power to govern. That bit of generosity means that congress works 2080 hours annually. Remember, we are being extremely generous and assuming that they take the same holidays, vacation, sick time, etc. that normal folks take. This does feel strange since I have not been this generous towards and elected official since… well ever.
As an annual 2080 working hour member of congress part of my job is to approve the budget. For arguments sake let's make this the first year the budget reaches one trillion dollars. Actually, let's look at that number this way; $1,000,000,000,000.00. When that number sinks in, realize that it means congress has approved the federal government spending $480,769,230.77, each and every working hour.
Let's sanitize that number somewhat. After all, there are actually 24 hours in every day, or 8760 hours in a year that is not leap year. The number of authorized spending per hour is now only $114,155,251.14. Only did I say? Let's be clear here. Congress has authorized our government to spend One hundred fourteen million one hundred fifty five thousand two hundred fifty one dollars and fourteen cents per hour, each and every day of the year with every one trillion dollars it approves in the budget.
Here is an alternative to that… ask me if that is fine and dandy with me before you spend the money. I just might say “no”. Am I kidding? No, I am not, and yes “we the people” can have the final say on all government spending.
We use the computer for everything else in life let's use it to run our government; to give us the final word in all legislative and spending decisions. Let's make the lawmakers of our land the law drafters, the ones who put forth proposals for voter's consideration. The lawmakers will be every voting American who wants to have a direct voice in federal government matters.
