De-Fund The Democrats' Agenda

From The American Thinker:

October 22, 2010


Defund the Democrats' agenda

Jed Gladstein

Jesse Unruh is reputed to have said that "money is the Mother's milk of politics." For many years, Unruh was one of the most powerful Democrats in the State of California. He was the Speaker of the California State Assembly and for a time was the California State Treasurer. As a Democrat, he had a keen understanding of how money is used to fund political agendas. He understood that every political program depends for its success on the money funneled into the program. That is what gets people engaged, and that is what keeps them engaged.

But the corollary to Unruh's political wisdom is that cutting off the flow of money used to support a political program results in the death of the program. People need to eat, and that means they need to work. As soon as the money stops for the work they are doing, they must find other work to do. This applies to the private sector, and it applies to the public sector as well. Thus, people working in the federal government to implement the Democratic socialist agenda are utterly dependent upon the continued flow of federal tax dollars to support their efforts. That is why the Republicans will soon be able to stop that agenda.





Pursuant to Article 1, Section 7 of the United States Constitution, all financial legislation must originate in the House of Representatives. Under Section 9 of Article 1, no money may be drawn from the United States treasury except by virtue of an appropriations bill passed into law. In other words, every federal department, agency and program is dependent for funding on legislation originating in the House. Thus, even if the Republicans are unable to gain a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, they will have the power after the November election to pass out of the House legislative bills that make it illegal to fund the Democrat's socialist programs.





If the Senate or Mr. Obama objects to such legislation, the House Republicans simply need to stand firm to prevail. After all, the Democrats cannot stand pat for very long in the face of a massive shutdown of federal agencies, and that is exactly what would happen if the Senate or the Administration tries to strong arm the House. The American people want the Republicans to stop the Democratic socialist agenda right now, and the only way to do that is to defund their programs. If that means a showdown with the Democrats, then so be it.





Therefore, following the mid-term election, the House Republicans need to pass a domestic spending bill that provides for 2006 spending levels for most federal government agencies and programs, and 2008 spending levels for social security and Medicare. The domestic spending bill must expressly provide that no money may be drawn from the United States treasury for salaries or other expenditures to administer or implement any law, executive order or administrative regulation promulgated for the first time in or after January of 2008. There should be a similar ban with respect to amendments to executive orders and administrative regulations made in or after January of 2008. In this way, the most egregious parts of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi agenda can be stopped.





If the Republicans are to earn the trust of the American people, they must show that they have what it takes to stop the Democratic socialist agenda. This country doesn't want to hear excuses about Republicans needing a Republican in the White House in order to get the job done. It is enough if the House, whose duty it is to initiate spending legislation, makes it illegal to spend our tax dollars on the Democrat's socialist programs. Then, if the Democrats want to bring a gun to the fight, as Mr. Obama likes to say, the American people will have a legal machine gun to help them win the battle to reclaim their country.









Posted at 09:20 AM