Money as power in the Congress and other items of a rant

Article 1, Section. 7.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

So what does that mean and why is it in the Constitution?  I think it is the most under used power vested in the House and perhaps is actually the most important.  If there is no money allocated then the departments and regulations go away.  I have seen it used here in our little county by our elected people to rid the body politic of crummy people.  It was the last resort apparently when other methods failed.  One was the removal of an employee who was frequenting the Mustang Ranch whorehouse on county time and in a county vehicle many years ago.  Civil Service protections were so difficult to overcome other methods of removal had to be used and that was the "budget" process.  Remove the money, the position and remove the person.

My question is how come that is not used by the Congress to bring profligate spending into scrutiny and remediation?  How is it the budget process and allocation of our tax money is so loose that the IRS can spend 70 million on Star Trek movies, pay $4,000 a night for hotel rooms at "conferences" and pay for porn in their offices?  How is it the Congress, both Houses in the long term, have abrogated their duties in allowing the abuse of the tax money?

It is not real sexy apparently.  Misuse of money does not trump the desire for the status quo.  They have the power to fix the mess in one two year term but will never do it.  I appreciate Darrell Issa and his oversight Committee but will anything be done?  The House could cutoff the money in any budget of any department (they can only obligate one term of Congress) but somehow these uses of power are not used.  We have a monster on our hands and no one seems able to make a dent in the mess. (The Farm Bill denial is a good first step this last week though, and Republican led)

I once researched and applied for a "grant" from the Agriculture Department for a study on environmental issues.  I got into the weeds when my request was denied and I knew at the time it was denied because I was a Conservative and was running a Conservative oriented organization.  When I researched after the denial I saw the BILLIONS of dollars in grant money controlled by the Ag Department (all departments have these slush funds as well).  Billions of dollars sent to organizations favored by the biased people in charge of the money in the federal department (liberals of course).  I then started to realize the only way we could start changing things about the expenditure of that money was to request oversight of it by the Congress.  My ideas were tossed into the trash of course.Nothing has changed over the years, it has actually gotten worse. Our government went on to fund the "scientists" with hundreds of billions of dollars to pursue the hoax of man-made "global warming".  Now "climate change".  All you poor slobs who scrape some money together to put gasoline in your car to go to work should be outraged.

Looking at all this money and the debt incurred by the Congress, is it any wonder Americans have tuned out?  Hell, the Tea Party brought all this profligate spending and debt to the forefront and yet what has changed?  The debt ceiling has ballooned, the oversight of the most important job of our electeds, our tax money and expenditures, goes on as if nothing has happened.  The hole is getting deeper every day and yet the 535 plus 2 keeps digging it deeper.  Those few voices of reason are shunted aside and those voices are most always conservative.

Stop the spending, take a break Congress.  Spend only what is brought into the treasury and let the chips fall where they may.  Of course this will never happen and the demise of our country will be accelerated because of the lack of balls to even balance the budget.  To much chaos they will say.  Voices will be raised but nothing will happen.  The crowning lunacy of the system on oversight was on display today.  The IRS is going to "self" fix the problems within their department.  Yeah right.  The people watching the porn on our dime will be turning themselves in and asking to be punished?  What a hoot.

We also had some US Supreme Court decisions this week and I have to say, those lawyers sure know how to twist the words and deeds of people don't they?  On the Prop8 decision, well no decision really, they said the people that brought the issue to the vote through and initiative had no standing to bring the suit to the highest court in the land! Unbelievable to me.  After the Arnold and then Attorney General Jerry Brown decided to be lawbreakers and not even defend their own citizens majority vote, I knew we Americans were in trouble as a supposed "nation of laws not men".  Arny and Jerry should have been impeached immediately but we have a liberal democrat super majority in our legislature who favored their decision to break the law.  Then as goes California, so goes the nation and we saw Obama and his AG Holder do the same things.  They decided to enforce some laws and not others.  Based on the political views of those involved. 

When that happens our country is no longer that special place in history as a refuge from the tyranny of the planet's usual suspects.  When a Obama uses "executive orders" to implement legislation our Constitution says is the Congress's responsibility we see anarchy.  When Obama appoints people to offices when the Congress is not in recess and they are required to "advice and consent" those appointments, we see anarchy.  Over time the American people see this disregard for the basic laws of the land and is it any wonder they are tuning out of elections and watchng Jerry Springer?  Hell Springer is more important and relevant  than the NSA listening to their voicemail or reading their emails apparently.

Then we have immigration "reform".  All this angst in DC is bogus in my view.  There are already laws about immigration and the processes to become an American. Thousands of laws.  The problem is the enforcement of these laws.  We see again the ;lawbreaking by Obama and Holder in the issue.  They have decided to turn their heads away from enforcement of current laws and States like Arizona and Alabama tried to take up the slack.  Of course these executives are all pretty slick lawyers and they know how to parse words and sentences to make it sound like it is not their fault but we all know they are lying. 

If people come here illegally they need to return to their country and apply legally as we expect.  I don't care if there are 3 million or thirty million.  We cannot be a viable country if we don't control our borders.  Just like we would not let some strangers move into our house we have to know and trust these people.  We also need to require English proficiency as a requirement.  Why we have a "press one for English and two for Spanish" has never set well with me.  We need to speak a common language and if you don't then go learn it or shut up.

The bottom line in America is money and who has the right to allocate it.  Congress needs to create vigorous oversight and there must be consequences to those that mis-spend or steal our tax money.  Civil Service needs a total overhaul and Public Sector Unions should be banned.  Will these things happen?  Maybe after the place collapses and the enemies of America gain control.  Then it won't matter since anyone raising their voice in protest will be up against the wall.

Congress, take back your power, enforce your Constitutional duties under Article One.  America is more important than your reelection.