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Trust is the foundation of our republican democracy.
Whether it’s the delicate social contract embodied in our Constitution or the deals we make every day, trust is the structure that binds them all together.
The debate over the relationship between the government and its subjects is not new. From the Old Testament to the Age of Greek Philosophy, the New Testament to the Middle Ages, history is replete with examples of tyrannical, intrusive and incompetent governments at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The US Government Accountability Office recently concluded that more than $2.4 trillion worth of avoidable errors have occurred over the past 20 years. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
Clearly, only 19% of Americans trust federal employees to do the right thing “most of the time,” but trust in local and state employees is significantly higher at 66% and 57% respectively. Despite recent increases in voter participation, a recent survey ranked the United States 31st out of 50 democracies surveyed.
Biden avoids government default and signs debt ceiling bill
A large part of the disconnect between governments and the people they were established to serve stems from a lack of responsibility and a sense of urgency for the better. Management of public funds. The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently concluded that over the past 20 years he has made more than $2.4 trillion (trillion with a ‘t’) worth of avoidable errors.
The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office recently failed to reauthorize 1,118 expenditures that expired before the start of fiscal 2022, while still spending $461 billion on programs that expired this year. pointed out that there is Sadly, $203 billion has been allocated for programs that expired over a decade ago.
Congress failed to reauthorize 1,118 expenditures that expired before the start of fiscal 2022, while still spending $461 billion on expired programs this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (Javin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)
Moreover, our country’s complex and Byzantine regulations set aside much-needed public and private projects across a wide range of industries and functions of the economy. Intuitively, we know America is so far behind in critical infrastructure that we wonder, “Can we build the Hoover Dam again?”
And the statistics betray the truth when it comes to unnecessary delays in major projects, whether in the transport or energy sectors. An example to underscore this point is recent analysis showing that the Dodd-Frank Act, a financial services law, accounts for about 30,000 of the new regulatory requirements requiring corporate compliance. be. That’s more than all other legislation passed under the Obama administration combined. Even one of the authors later admitted, “Until this is actually introduced, no one knows how it will work.”
Finally, as our nation’s leaders debate over the next few weeks how to reconcile wasteful spending, Congress and the President will seek to support a bloated federal bureaucracy that far exceeds the needs of the nation. A growing number of Americans lack faith that they can curb their runaway spending.
Credit rating agencies agree with the US public on the recent credit downgrades against the US government’s ability to reduce annual budget deficits and curb overall debt growth. A recent survey found that more than eight in 10 Americans believe that both Congress and the president should prioritize this unsustainable responsibility they impose on future generations of the public. .
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The undeniable truth is that nearly half of our spending is related to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Without substantive debate on reforming these programs, we will never get anywhere near the goal of curbing the rising costs of maintaining the government, interest payments on debt service expected to exceed defense spending by 2028. .
We as citizens must ask ourselves is our own government getting in the way of our prosperity?
President Joe Biden will sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law at the White House on November 15, 2021. (Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images)
We must remind our fellow Americans that they have an inalienable right to scrutinize, demand and expect an efficient and effective government. Candidates and elected officials need more courage to fearlessly support new approaches to reducing the size and scope of government and reforming the bureaucracy that makes America less competitive.
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As citizens, we have a responsibility to reject the idea that government should be left alone and hope for some form of positive outcome.
If we take love of our country seriously, we must take seriously the people charged with overseeing our finances doing the right thing. A government of the people, by the people, for the people can only happen with the input and oversight of all of us.
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