Since June 21, 1788 when New Hampshire became the required ninth state to ratify the US Constitution, the seventeen enumerated powers specifically granted to the federal government in the Constitution have slowly expanded to allow central government involvement in virtually all aspects of life in America. Thomas Jefferson, were he among us today, would call for a second insurance of the Declaration of Independence. The expansion of those powers resulted from broad interpretation of the Constitution’s commerce clause and general welfare clause for the stated purpose of promoting societal good. Jefferson warned us about this in his writings with, “Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.”
This gradual erosion of our liberty has only surfaced because of the unsustainable financial support necessary to fund an ever increasing role of government in our lives. Newly elected Republicans in the 112th Congress recognized that the financial structure of our nation is at the brink of collapsing under the weight of government that has grown too large for its citizens to support. They are pressing for deep cuts in spending, but are getting pushed back from President Obama and Democrats whose ideology is rooted in central authority control. Even if successful, the $100 billion in cuts for the remainder of the 2011 budget, called for by the Republicans, will do little when staring at a projected deficit for 2011 of $1.5 trillion. This deficit will push our national debt to a level that will threaten our ability to fund our military. It can spark an inflationary cycle that will spike the cost of food, energy and other commodities resulting in hardships for all citizens and for businesses, which would fail creating higher unemployment.
The Treasury Department is forecasting that our national debt will reach $19.6 trillion by 2015. If our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows at a respectable annual rate of 3.5% over that same period, it will reach $17.7 trillion by 2015, trailing the debt by almost $2 trillion. Mr. Obama’s recent proposal to cut $1.1 trillion in deficit spending over the next ten years, while the debt is forecast to increase by more than $5 trillion in only five years, is laughable at best and a cruel diversion to mask the truth at worst. Can you imagine running your family household by planning to spend more than you anticipate your income to grow for ten years? You would be bankrupt and that is exactly where our nation is heading.
The clash between our federalist style of government (where the states and the people have the power) and an all powerful central government will drive the debate in the 2012 Presidential Election. However, we need to deal with the financial crisis now.
The seventeen enumerated powers in the Constitution limited the role of government to broad national matters. The Constitution, by specifically stating what powers were granted, prevented the central government from getting involved in education, housing, urban planning, the environment, energy, income security, retirement planning, health care, communications, and various matters of personal choice that the Framers knew needed to be preserved for the states or the people in order to protect liberty.
Due to the programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the late 1930’s, Lyndon Johnson’s mid 1960’s Great Society and Mr. Obama’s agenda over the past two years, our central government gained powers that the Framers did not want it to have. Making matters worse is the encumbrance on the private sector from thousands of pages of unnecessary and bureaucratic rules and regulations in business matters, written by government appointees possessive of little or no business experience. The result is anemic job and wealth creation. American Exceptionalism is being crushed.
Using data from The Heritage Foundation, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Internal Revenue Service’s Statistical Database for 2010 and 2011, the cost of the current reach of government becomes clear. It helps us to answer the question of how much reach we want the government to have in our lives. Aside from the real threat to our liberty, the financial cost alone will dramatically lower our standard of living.
Our nation will collect $2.3 trillion in 2011 from individual income taxes, corporate income taxes and from payroll taxes. Our government will spend $3.8 trillion on defense and all other cabinet and agency departments and programs, interest on our debt and entitlement spending. The deficit is therefore expected to be $1.5 trillion.
Removing the cost associated with Veterans Affairs, the Treasury, the State Department, Homeland Security and parts of Interior and Commerce – the cost of government infrastructure beyond what the Framers intended is approximately $330 billion. The government’s involvement in entitlement programs requires another $1.2 trillion that we do not have. Hence, the over reach of government will add $1.5 trillion in expense in 2011 – the full value of the deficit.
If we were to end the Bush tax cuts for tax payers earning more than $250,000 per year, revenues would only increase by $65 billion and would hardly make a dent in the deficit. However, history teaches us that reducing the reach of government results in stronger expansion of the private sector and the creation of more jobs and more tax revenue. Remember that government does not create wealth. It draws on the wealth of citizens and it encumbers growth by adding unnecessary layers of control.
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