So Much for Self-Governance by Oakland County's own Mike Brownfield, J.D.

So much for self-governance

Posted by Mike Brownfield on Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 12:12 AM

Ask any (well educated) high school student what the U.S. House of Representatives does, and they'll probably tell you that they hold the purse strings in our government. But this year, the House has decided to pass the buck on that most fundamental responsibility and, for the first time since the modern budget process was created, will not pass a budget.
Instead, the House voted at 8:02 p.m. on Thursday - the eve of their Independence Day holiday - to "deem" that a $1.2 trillion non-existent budget had passed. (Stay with me here.) In short, it's procedural hocus pocus that allows Congress to keep spending money in Fiscal Year 2011 without any road map on spending, taxing, borrowing or deficits. As Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) says, "The so-called 'budget enforcement resolution' enforces no budget, but instead provides a green light for the Appropriators to continue spending, exacerbating our looming fiscal crisis."
Why skirt their budgetary responsibilities? Well, in a tough election year where anti-incumbent sentiment is through the roof, Members of Congress don't want to report to their constituents that they voted for deficits as far as the eye can see. By "deeming" that a budget has passed, they can keep spending the money without having to be honest with voters about how bad the nation's fiscal nightmare really is.
They really don't have much incentive to do their jobs, anyhow. President Barack Obama has given them an out by appointing an unelected deficit commission to make recommendations on fiscal policy (taxing, spending, deficits) that Congress can choose to enact - if they want. It would be the functional equivalent of the Lions hiring an outside coaching staff to tell the existing coaching staff how to coach the team. Wouldn't you want the existing coaches to do their job in the first place? (Well, maybe not in the Lions' case.)
But hold on, it gets even better for those representatives. The commission won't report until November -- after the elections -- so our brave leaders in Congress could conceivably vote on the commission's recommendations during a lame duck session when they are not at all accountable to their constituents.
It's no coincidence that the vote on the "deeming" procedure occurred right when Americans would notice it least - amid planning for travel, picnics and fireworks. But the sad irony is that, 234 years ago this week, 56 leaders of 13 colonies gathered in the sweltering, malaria-ridden heat of Philadelphia to act boldly and sign a document declaring independence from a government that acted with wanton disregard for the people it ruled. Today, our leaders in Congress can't even vote on a budget. So much for the great experiment of self-governance. What a difference 234 years makes.

From The Detroit News: http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php?blogid=209#ixzz0su7iCG5P