Regardless of the aspect of government, or legislation, or budget of it, "It's complicated," is an apt description, and it should not be. The US Constitution was written in plain English, on 4 pages, with strong, concise language. It clearly defines what is the responsibility of the Federal government, what is within the authority of the State governments, and with the Bill of Rights, what are the God-Given Rights of the Citizens who allow the existence of the Federal Government.
The primary responsibility of governance falls upon the States. The Federal government is charged with external policies; war and diplomacy. And where Federal government is concerned, it is the Representatives of the People that are given the power of the purse, and without which no law can be enacted. The Constitution creates 3 branches of federal government, one to legislate, one to preside over the affairs of government, and one to pass judgement when conflict occurs. All those that take position within the government are required to swear an oath to the Constitution, not the political party on whose ticket they ran.
Consider the prophecies of doom regarding "sequester." If the chief politician is to be believed, there will soon be kids turned away from school, criminals let out into the streets, firemen left to watch homes burn, long lines at the airport, as well as a new invasion of illegal aliens and gnashing of the teeth. And all of this is to come because the Representatives of the People have not submitted to greater taxation of the most taxed population on Earth.
Let's look at the dire prophecy again. The US Constitution does not authorize federal involvement in schools, in local law enforcement, or in fire fighting. That is not to say that government has no role in these things, but rather that these are the responsibility of State and local government, not the Federal government. The taxes collected, laundered through bureacrats at the Federal level, and returned in lesser amounts to the districts and States is money that is not available for the Citizens to pay directly to the Teachers, Firefighters, and Policemen through local taxation.
Contrast the US Constitution's 4 pages with ObamaCare's more than 2000 pages. Any Citizen with a basic grasp of grammar can understand those 4 pages, while even the politicians that sponsored ObamaCare noted they could not comprehend ObamaCare, even with their law degree. While lawyers of the chief politician argued that it was a tax, and hence allowed under the 16th Amendment, the politicians themselves argued that it wasn't.
And even if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by the chief politician of the "other party," argued that as a tax, it is Constitutional for the politicians to force Citizens to purchase a service, it is not. Domestic government is not within the Constitutional authorities of the Federal government. Insurance, corporate law, and legislation of Citizens falls under the responsibilities and authorities of the State Governments.
When one considers that for the first 120 years of American History, the Federal government was funded primarily by a tax on alcohol, and tariffs, both of which remain today, and without any income tax, and that it was during that time that Andrew Jackson was the only person to preside over a government of zero debt, one must ask how the most taxed nation on Earth has a deficit greater than the budgets of vast majority of governments on Earth, combined.
The Federal Government has grown to such a great and complicated size, that not even the highest levels of bureacrats or politicians can accurately state its size or nature. Even the relatively small Department of Veteran Affairs has such a complicated set of regulations, and unionized disorganization of bureaucrats, that not even they can understand its complete nature. The much larger, if better organized, Department of Defense has published enough regulations and manuals to fill whole libraries, and require a specialized cadre of lawyers to prosecute. And those are Constitutional bureacracies.
The Constitutional role of Federal government was so small that it was only required for the Congress to convene annually. There was that little for them to do, and it was up to the man elected to preside over the government to implement their decisions. The majority of laws effecting the average Citizen were to be enacted by State governments, not Congress, and certainly not Executive dictates.
If Americans will elect Representatives, instead of politicians, that return government to its Constitutional bounds, Freedom can be returned, deficits erased, and taxes decreased. Prosperity will return. And it really isn't complicated, or at least does not need to be. Yes, State taxes would increase, but to an overall total less than those amounts paid today, without the deficits and debt.
Stumble It!
