EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 57

OVERSIGHT?

Our Constitution, most state constitutions, judicial procedures and corporation bylaws, all contain checks and balances. All aspects of our republic purposely contain a system of checks and balances. The premise behind the need for such restraints is that people can be corrupt and power breeds corruption. Corruption in government and unchecked power can and will destroy individual liberty. It doesn’t matter which political party is in power, the motivation to use the full and unchecked power of government for ideological supremacy is always there. Our system of checks and balances relies on another principle for its effectiveness. The protector of viability of checks and balances is Congressional and Judicial oversight and an aggressive questioning press, which is the third, very important leg of oversight.

079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993 (Photo credit: David Holt London)

In our federal government structure, the Congress and the Courts provide the arms of oversight of the Executive. It is the Executive branch of our government whose management of the nation’s business contains the power to encroach on individual freedom in the name of security or in misguided attempts to destroy opposition to changing or transforming the American nation. Up until the last ten years the check and balance process has worked well with effective oversight.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the Executive often struggled to maintain its position of prominence in running the affairs of government. At times it seemed to those of us working in the Executive branch that Congress believed oversight meant management. Congressional staff members and reporters made their bones by ferreting out real and imagined overreaches and inefficiencies of the Executive. There was a constant stream of officers from various agencies marching up to testify in front of various committees. One Director of the CIA often commented, “That while CIA is an executive agency under the command of the President, CIA works equally for the Congress.” (This is not an exact quote but it is very close and was accurate at the time.)

The power and effectiveness of the oversight process has been steadily degraded. Four things are primarily responsible for the weakening of the oversight process.

First: The Executive Branch of Government has grown much larger, starting with President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama. The Congressional and Judicial Branches have not kept up.

Secondly: The media has become politically one-sided and ignores covering events that might be critical of President Obama. In doing so they have abrogated their historical position as a key element of the oversight process.

Thirdly: Only the Executive Branch has keep up with the technology necessary to improve the management and control of their branch of government.

Lastly: No one in the Legislative or Judicial Branches anticipated that a political party would so openly and ruthlessly use the power of the executive to destroy political opposition groups. There is scarcely a piece of the executive that has not stepped over traditional lines to seize and expand political power. A few examples of the most egregious are the IRS, EPA, the State Department, the Justice Department, ranking military officers, DEA, Immigrations, HHS, Department of Labor and others that will emerge if oversight regains its footing. How can we expect Congress to oversee the collection and use of information on U.S. Citizens if it cannot even provide oversight of the the IRS, one of the most bureaucratic and pervasive of all agencies? This is not over. Watch the Congressional hearing.

By the author of the Jack Brandon novels. http://www.factsandfictions.com

Checks, balances, and the National Security Agency (tv.msnbc.com)
Constitutional Standoff: Obama Syndicate vs. the People… “It’s no secret to anyone who watches any newscast – even once a week – that the Obama syndicate (aka Executive Branch of the US government) has been flexing its muscles, in order to take over all gov (gunnygblog.wordpress.com)
James Clapper Hails Checks and Balances, Evades Oversight (crooksandliars.com)

2 Comments

Filed under centralization, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, information technology, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Politics

Tagged as Barack Obama, CIA, Congress, Executive (government), George W. Bush, Obama, United States, United States Congress

by Barry Kelly | May 1, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 48

ENOUGH?

Whether Republican, Democrat, or Progressive, the facts don’t change. You are entitled to your interpretation of the facts but lets agree on the facts. In the bullet list of what I believe are facts, I’ll try to keep my conservative views on the sidelines. Since the mainstream media does not cover most of the items in this list, many citizens will not be familiar with these facts.

FACTS:

* President Obama has appointed more czars than any other president. Maybe more than all others combined.

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

* President Obama’s administration has not followed the Constitutional requirement to forward a budget to Congress every year.

* President Obama’s landmark legislation (Obamacare) was passed without either the people or Congress given a chance to read it.

*President Obama has bypassed Congressional rules and precedents to appoint officials without the advice and consent of the Senate.

* President Obama has spent trillions more than the government takes in.

* President Obama has expanded the role and size of the executive departments and agencies.

* President Obama has used executive power to bypass Congressional authority.

* President Obama refused the Republican offer to give him the authority to select where the sequestration cuts would be made to lessen the impact on the people.

* President Obama has stonewalled Congressional rights to information in the case of the death of the American ambassador in the terrorist attack on Ben Ghazi and in the case of ‘fast and furious’ supplying guns to Mexico’s drug cartels. On the Ben Ghazi issue he refused to call it a terrorist attack for two weeks, insisting more facts were needed. The Justice Department arrested a filmmaker accused of inciting the attack on Ben Ghazi. The president vowed to bring the attackers to justice. So far, we have no evidence of the effort to apprehend them. Evidence is now surfacing that no attempt was made to rescue the embattled personnel at the consulate and annex.

* President Obama has supported the Arab position in issues with Israel.

* President Obama refuses to use the term “War on Terror.” The killing of several soldiers at Fort Hood by an Army major and follower of Islam shouting Islamic slogans is called “workplace violence.”

* The President and his Attorney General consistently opt to give Islamic terrorists the protection and rights usually reserved for U.S. citizens.

* The President’s redline was crossed by Assad in Syria weeks ago when he used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. No comment or action so far.

* The President’s repeated attempts to engage the Iranian regime regarding their efforts to develop nuclear weapons have not worked.

* An open microphone caught the President whispering to President Medvedev of Russia to, “Tell Putin he (Obama) would have more flexibility after the election.”

* Despite the President’s words, unemployment is worse.

* Under President Obama, welfare recipients have risen dramatically.

* The President campaigned on the promise Obamacare would bring down medical costs. They have increased instead.

* The President stated he would support “all of the above” in discussing his energy plans. He and his administration have constantly taken positions to destroy our fossil fuel production. The coal industry is shutting down. The Keystone Pipeline from Canada is still pending another EPA ‘study.’ Billions have been spent in supporting marginal energy producers that haven’t worked.

* Stimulus One did not provide private sector jobs. The President remains committed to the belief government spending is the key to economic development.

* Obama’s administration has issued more regulations impacting economic development than either Presidents Carter or Clinton.

* President Obama has not focused on job development in the private sector.

* President Obama has not tried to find who leaked voluminous intelligence secrets to the press. All the leaks made the President look good.

I’m sure many Progressives can explain these facts in a favorable light. That is their right. At least some of the facts should concern even Progressives. Most of them should concern Democrats. Given a stronger Congress, President Obama would be flirting with impeachment proceedings.

By the author of the Jack Brandon Thriller series. www.factsandfictions.com

Taking part in a Nov. 10, 2009, memorial service on Fort Hood, Texas, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama look at the photograph of one of the victims of the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 38 wounded. See more at http://www.army.mil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)