100 BILLS A YEAR: ORF-ED PIECE BY BRUCE WOODHULL

100 BILLS A YEAR        

The power of the registered electorate is one of the essential privileges, rights or freedoms of a democracy.  Or so we are told.  The voting hierarchy serves the Citizen on a similar level of hierarchies.  Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines hierarchy as: 1: a division of angels  2 a: a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it ; especially : the bishops of a province or nation b: church government by a hierarchy  3: a body of persons in authority  4: the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing ; also : the group so classified  5: a graded or ranked series .

We, as American Citizens, believe our vote directs the elected official whom we elect to represent the constituency we are a part of.  The first definition of hierarchy, noted above is a 'division of angels'.  Believing we have elected a division of angels is not the description most Americans would use in describing politicians.  Some enlightened individuals might think of President Obama as a divine being, but I think most do not.

 

Let's jump to the third and fourth definitions of hierarchy.  The third definition: a body of persons in authority, could rank at any level of authoritarian institutions, from the local school board to the U.s. Congress.  Just how much authority these 'governing bodies' have is debated, defined, regulated and challenged on a daily basis in the United States.  

Definition four: 'the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social or professional standing' could describe our elected officials and the numerous committees, coalitions, political action committees, agencies and partisan groups. .   

Regardless of the American hierarchy of political government and our faith in elected officials representing our political wishes, we are seeing a populace being governed by an unyielding government aggressively expanding federal jurisdiction and authority.  Since the election of Barrack Obama, who among us have voted for the Stimulus package, the DOD policy not to sell expended .223 casings to private munitions manufacturers, continued support and taxpayer paid entitlements for illegal immigrants from foreign nations, the use of textbooks printed in Mexico in American classrooms, the AIG and other bailouts, government interference with American industry, the possible expansion of the war in Iraq into Pakistan, and all the other Orwellian legislation and ideology this president and his czars and cabinet are imposing on the American Citizenry? 

 We are witnessing the unbridled growth of government, much as the Bush administration did the same, and the generational debt to our grandchildren increase.  How do we stop the growth of government and the creation of laws, policies and federal authority we did not vote for?  

I have an idea.

Before I hatch the plan, let me reveal its short comings and its 'non-reality'.  The idea would encumber government with too many people getting involved with what goes on in Washington D.C.  The idea would essentially limit the ability of federal government to grow, function or meet challenges.  The idea would severely limit the power of the hierarchy; definition four.  The political machine in Washington D.C. would slow to a crawl.  

MY idea is to limit the House and Congress to 100 bills a year.  Every bill going before the House and Congress would be voted for approval in a national election by the registered electors throughout the United States.  Yes, I propose on going voting on every bill proposed in Washington D.C.  I also propose ongoing voting on every major resolution, deal, amendment, and scheme, control, authoritarian grab in the federal government.  You protest the average Citizen doesn't have time to study bills, research the U.S. Constitution, and earn a living and raise a family.  To some extent this is true and to a greater extent this is exactly what the scoundrels in Washington D.C. know and rely on; the ignorance and apathy of the public.

We are too busy going to work, paying taxes, raising our families to understand we are being taken down the road to legislated socialism and diminished Constitutional Rights.

It can't be done would be the voice of reason and frugality coming from the opposition.  But think for a moment if this was the case.  My intent for this idea is to limit the creation of pork being legislated into taxpayer funded projects and to force politicians to focus on only the essential legislation needed and created to keep the country running, secure and sovereign.  The theory of transparency in government has never existed, regardless what this president claims.  Protests that nothing would get done in Washington' if only a 100 bills a year were allowed should be answered with let the sovereign states take up the slack.  Let the corporate United States crowd scream about enumerated powers if the states exercised their police power instead of bowing under the force and bullying of the federal government. 

I like the sound of that.  It offers a a challenge to the boys and girls in Washington.  After we ponder this for a while; think how this would work in your home state.

I'm giddy with fantasies of this working in New Mexico.  

Elected officials use your vote as the ticket in and then disregard your phone calls, emails, letters, public demonstrations and basically your belief your are represented.  If you had a weekly or monthly opportunity to vote on the legislative mechanisms in the seats of political power, you might feel 'represented' and involved.  

My idea is only that...an idea.  But what a glorious nightmare it would inflict on the federal government and our elected officials in Washington D.C.