This Is Embarrassing

“The exclusive privilege of originating money bills will belong to the House of Representatives.”  (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 66) 

AMERICA IS A CHILD OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT.  But reason is anathema to some.  And they divide the idea and the reality.

I

     This is not something new.  The President sends the budget to Congress in the beginning of the calendar year.  The model, which Alexander Hamilton mentioned in The Federalist Papers as “the preparatory plans of finance,” has been followed.  (The Federalist Papers, No. 72)  Under the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the fiscal year began on the first of July.  Now, under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, it begins on the first of October.  But, even with the additional time, the twelve appropriations bills do not get passed on schedule.  A continuing resolution, a measure to keep spending at their current levels, becomes necessary. 

II

     “The representatives of the people, in a popular assembly, seem sometimes to fancy that they are the people themselves, and betray strong symptoms of impatience and disgust at the least sign of opposition from any other quarter; as if the exercise of its rights, by either the executive or the judiciary, were a breach of their privilege and an outrage to their dignity.”  (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 71)  But the power of the purse does not permit the Legislature to stop the other branches from exercising their respective powers.  Therefore an effects test is necessary. 

     The Fundamental Charter places limits on what Congress can do in respect to the other branches.  The President’s salary “shall not be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected….”  (Article II, Section 1, Clause 7)  The same applies to “the principal officer in each of the executive departments.”  (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1)  Likewise, judicial salaries “shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.”  (Article III, Section 1)  The implications cannot be ignored:  Any threat to their independence is inconsistent with “the manifest tenor of the Constitution.”  (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 78) 

III

     Everyone who takes the oath to uphold the Constitution has made a commitment to the goals in the Preamble.  The serious-minded may approach the matter in a variety of ways.  They cannot, in good faith, deny the impossibility of achieving them without a budget.  Legislators fail in that regard when they decide to showoff instead of showing up.  Then the legitimacy of their efforts—and commitment to the supreme law of the land—is questionable, because the Government of the United States must function. 

IV

     Darkness comes without sunset.  Who knows the time of day?  For a mystery sits on the horizon. 

V

     “Who thought up this crazy idea?  Certainly not George Washington nor James Madison.  During the first 194 years of the American Republic, from 1787 to 1981, government shutdowns NEVER HAPPENED.”  (OFW, 01-25-2019) 

     In March 1980, in response to a question from Representative Gladys Noon Spellman (D-MD) about the Antideficiency Act, Comptroller General Elmer Staats wrote, “We do not believe that the Congress intends that federal agencies be closed during periods of expired appropriations.”  (Government Executive, 10-27-2022) 

     In April, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti disagreed.  “One hundred and ten years after its enactment,” as M.A. Davis, an historian noted, “he found for the first time that the Antideficiency Act allowed for no government agency to operate without funding.”  (Time, 11-16-2023)           

     “It is my opinion that, during periods of 'lapsed appropriations,' no funds may be expended except as necessary to bring about the orderly termination of an agency’s functions, and that the obligation or expenditure of funds for any purpose not otherwise authorized by law would be a violation of the Antideficiency Act.”  (Opinion of the Attorney General, 04-25-1980) 

     One hundred and ten years after its enactment, the Attorney General made another decision for the first time. 

     “...(T)he Department of Justice will take actions to enforce the criminal provisions of the Act in appropriate cases in the future when violations of the Antideficiency Act are alleged.  This does not mean that departments and agencies, upon a lapse in appropriations, will be unable logistically to terminate functions in an orderly way.”  (Opinion of the Attorney General, 04-25-1980) 

     Civiletti was technically right and totally wrong, for he missed the big picture. 

     “I couldn’t have ever imagined these shutdowns would last this long of a time and would be used as a political gambit,” he said.  My opinion “was a purely direct opinion on a fairly narrow subject and has been used in ways that were not imagined at the time.”  (The Washington Post, 01-19-2019) 

     Every question—“Why do lawyers not have lemonade stands?”—does not merit serious research.  Just say, “They prefer turnips.” 

     “The whole idea that someone would shut down government in order to gain leverage over a political opponent was not part of the discussion in 1980,” said Kenneth D. Ackerman, an historian and lawyer.  “The framers of the Antideficiency Act of 1870 did not conceive that they were making a political weapon.”  (The Washington Post, 01-19-2019) 

VI

     One way to avoid problems in the future is to amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 so that spending stays at current levels, with a cost of living adjustment, until a budget is passed.  And to bring down the curtain on a related drama, amend the Act and make the Gephardt Rule law.  It simply stated that the debt ceiling was “deemed to have passed” when a budget resolution was approved. 

     In the event of congressional failure, it may be necessary for the President to raise the debt ceiling and instruct the Attorney General to review and rescind the Civiletti opinion on the Antideficiency Act.  Duty requires nothing less. 

     “Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government....  A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government.  A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.”  (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 70) 

VII

     The playacting must end.  The consequences of failure are serious—shutdowns, America’s credit rating downgraded, and added cost.  Thus, when Republicans control the House of Representatives, the debate cannot be defined in their terms, if “fiscal responsibility” is to be more than a GOP catchphrase.  The test is to align the budget with the goals of the Preamble and make the idea and reality one.

(c)2024 Marvin D. Jones.  All rights reserved.

 

V 

https://ofwlaw.com/government-shutdowns-who-dreamed-up-this-crazy-idea/    [01-25-2019]

https://www.govexec.com/management/2022/10/time-lawyer-invented-government-shutdown/378935/    [10-27-2022]

https://time.com/6326996/government-shutdown-history-2/    [11-16-2023]

https://www.justice.gov/file/22281/download    [Opinion of the Attorney General, 04-25-1980]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/17/meet-democrat-who-paved-way-government-shutdowns-yes-democrat/    [01-19-2019]

VI

https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2023/05/notes-for-may-9-2023-debt-ceiling.html

A Wake Inland

“Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:  For as he      thinketh in his heart, so is he:  Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."  

                                                                                                          (Proverbs 23:6-7, KJV)

THESE FINAL HOURS…are…cruel, slow, and agonizing.  Denial, Anger, Bargaining, and Depression pay their respects at a pauper’s grave.  It is unbearable, a sight to behold, a stake in the heart—the death of a belief.  And Acceptance is nowhere to be seen.

     The country’s long-form birth certificate is questioned.  Its ideals—“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—are dismissed.  The list of grievances against the King is ignored, and a goodbye is replaced with a welcome mat.

     Perhaps a concussion makes it hard to remember how Benjamin Franklin responded when, after the  Federal Convention, Mrs. Powel asked him, “Well, Doctor, what have we got--a republic or a monarchy?” and he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”  Perhaps amnesia makes it hard to recall that Alexander Hamilton compares and contrasts the King of Great Britain with the President of the United States.  “The one would be amenable to personal punishment and disgrace; the person of the other is sacred and inviolable.”  (The Federalist Papers, No. 69)  Heaven forbid!  Dementia makes it impossible to know that the Constitution prohibits the granting of titles of nobility.  (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 & Section 10)

     George Washington was Commander in Chief of the Continental Forces, the man on horseback determined that the United States of America would be a republic.  He mounted up to move away from monarchy and despotism.  Thus, he presided over the writing of the Constitution.

     The Chief Traitor does tough guy schtick.  To some, it does not matter that he is a certified sissy.  For those in despair that America is a country—and not a country club—every part of his unsavory       persona is embraced.  They are fine with him saying, “I have an Article II where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.”  That includes “the complete power to pardon” and claims of absolute immunity, which strip him bare.  Are we going to lose the Republic to this guy—the imitation man who is a spoiled brat on Tony the Pony?  Well, at least bone spurs come in handy when he says, “Giddy up.”

     This is insulting.  We have shown him a sun dial, an hourglass, and a watch.  So, why are we still giving him the time of day?  And now, after leading his horse to water, must we also supply a straw?

     Corruption comes by degrees, and deeds do not lead the way.  But the steps from here to there may be nearly imperceptible.  “The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words.”  (Statement, United States Holocaust Museum, 11-21-2016)  And what is true of one horror applies to another.

     The boisterous minority mourning in America does not have a right to rule.  These un-Americans depend upon endless assertion and repetition that does not equal truth; and they use threats and violence because “the consent of the governed” was fine as long as they got their way.  But now that is changing.

     Shays’s Rebellion was the exclamation point on a sentence to terminate the Articles of Confederation.  The Founders understood that “in order to form a more perfect Union,” it was necessary to “insure domestic tranquility.”  (Preamble)  For “every government ought to contain in itself the means of its own preservation.”  (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 59; italics his)  Thus, they decided “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.”  (Article I, Section 8, Clause 15)  Furthermore, the United States must protect every State “against invasion” and “against domestic violence.”  (Article IV, Section 4)  Finally, as a result of the Civil War, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same” from holding Federal or State office.

     In response to the Whiskey Rebellion, President Washington called “the Militia…into the actual service of the United States” to enforce respect for the Constitution.  (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1)  President Lincoln did the same in response to the attack on Fort Sumter.  And now, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment must be enforced “in order to form a more perfect Union…and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”  (Preamble)

     While we must be relentless and ruthless in countering lies with a blistering barrage of facts, that is not enough.  It is time to end the posturing of people who pretend to be patriots.  The oath to support and defend the Constitution—“against all enemies, foreign and domestic”—requires nothing less.  National security is the issue.  The Rubicon has been crossed—and the rebellion must be crushed.

(c)2024 Marvin D. Jones.  All rights reserved.

 

 https://youtu.be/6LOP0voAabk?si=z-lJXLaIBr2OPGyx

[Tony the Pony by Marx]