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Sanity! It exists on Capitol Hill (albeit in small amounts)

 

Bill Clinton wanted to shrink the military but he had a problem.  There were a lot of military bases and closing some of them would save a lot of money Clinton could blow on wasteful projects that would reward key Democrat donors and constituents.

 

Clinton could not close the military bases out right because the Congressmen and Senators in the states worked very hard to protect their turf. 

 

So the answer became BRAC.  The Base Realignment and Closure Commission.  It was a simple idea.  The “experts” would review all the bases and recommend those for either closure or realignment.  Once their report was prepared, it was submitted to Congress for either an up or down vote.  No amendments, which meant no powerful members of Congress could act to protect bases.

 

I have lamented why we did not do this with the rest of the Government. 

 

Guess what?

 

Under the heading of great minds think alike, Louisiana Congressman John Fleming came up with the same idea. 

 

He introduced a bill last year called H.R. 2680.  It is called the Federal Realignment and Closure Committee (FRACC). 

 

The idea is just like the BRAC.  The experts will go through the Federal Government and look for programs that do not work, are duplicative, have failed or are so riddled with abuse as to not be useful. 

 

Those programs would be selected and there would be the same kind of up and down vote.

 

This is a great idea, right?

 

It is such a great idea that Govtrack.us gives this bill a 2% chance of becoming law.  

 

The Indianapolis Colts have a better chance of winning the Superbowl without Peyton Manning than this bill does of becoming law.

 

The fact that this bill is languishing in the dark abyss of Congress, stuck in a committee where it will most likely die.

 

This brings up the obvious question.  If we in the Tea Party brought the GOP into the majority to cut spending, and this is a great tool to get rid of wasteful spending, when the hell is the GOP going to get serious about cutting spending?

 

The answer is as long John Boehner’s freshly laundered white flag of surrender flies above the Speaker’s chair, it is not going to happen.

 

This is a good bill for Tea Party groups to get behind. 

 

On Monday, let’s start calling Congressmen and Senators and tell them to enact this bill.  We need to do something to start shrinking the government and this is as good a way to start cutting it as any.

 

Take a moment to forward this blog to the people on your email list.   Let’s tell Congress to start doing something now, before our nation starts looking like Greece.  

Tags: 2680, closure, committee, congressman, federal, fleming, hr, john, realignment, the

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeff Waller on April 20, 2012 at 9:18pm

This is one fire we really need to fan!

They need to make Congress have to reauthorize every recurring expense every ten
years or less. If they vote it down, or "let the sun set on it" without a vote, it goes away!

It would make Congress have to actually WORK for a living...

Permalink Reply by Debrajoe Smith-Beatty on April 20, 2012 at 9:23pm

Tonight on Fox News I heard Pelosi talking about her "wants" to change the Constitution like wiping out the Bill of Rights. We had better start yelling - loud!

Permalink Reply by Charles H. Sims on April 21, 2012 at 7:08am

You do understand what Progressive means?  It means the constitution is obsolete and must be ignored when desired.  Did you know that Democrats usually like to be called progressives?


Permalink Reply by Mike NQR on April 21, 2012 at 4:52pm

Yeah, as if it has anything to do with "progress."

Permalink Reply by Guy Blanchard on April 20, 2012 at 9:27pm

Transparency is what obama promised so this falls under Transparency,just another good thought obama and the democrats will shoot down.Transparency remember?Too bad all the scumbag ,anti American liberal handout voters just don't move to the socialist nation of there choice instead of trying to turn a Free America into a socialist nation. Transparency right?

Permalink Reply by USARogue on April 20, 2012 at 9:27pm

 

Here's some fodder to tell your Representative or Senator about.

  1. The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper payments in 2008.
  2. Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP) versus $71 billion on homeland security.
  3. Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant federal properties.
  4. Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them–costing taxpayers a total of $123 billion annually–fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.
  5. The Congressional Budget Office published a “Budget Options” series identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.
  6. Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 safe water programs.
  7. Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
  8. A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, including “over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold.” The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.
  9. Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
  10. The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.
  11. The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from South Carolina to Florida.
  12. Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which report average household incomes of $200,000.
  13. Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $70 billion annually.
  14. A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a combined $295 billion in cost overruns.
  15. The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades.
  16. Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
  17. Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.
  18. Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year’s 10,160 earmarks included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.
  19. The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.
  20. The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.
  21. Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines–plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.
  22. More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.
  23. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and at least one sex change operation.
  24. Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.
  25. Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.

 

I have more than 400 more examples like this.

WHY can't any of our elected officials find these obvious examples of waste, fraud, abuse and corruption?

Because they don't want to.

 

Permalink Reply by Jo Gonzalez on April 20, 2012 at 10:01pm

Thank you USARogue, with information such as you have provided, it gives us a "hands-up", when calling in to the Congress, and House, ears perk up when you know the number of the Bill, can somewhat describe it, and then state whether you are for it, or are not. It goes back to the same thing, if we like or dislike something, we must tell our Representatives.  I know, I know, we have called them a lot of times, but the Battle is not over, and speaking frankly, I believe this is going to be a long pull, even with Romney in Office.  Too long, we "let it ride" and now we are seeing the disasterous results of inattention.  We must make our Voices heard, loud and clear. In your acquaintance pool, you must know some Democrats, well, take a close look, do you think they can give up their self-love, long enough, to pay attention and call Washington?? Don't think so. So, by Logic, it will be us they hear from.

Permalink Reply by CaliRay on April 21, 2012 at 7:06am

@USARogue You have an impressive list of all of the fraud, waste and abuse being done to taxpayers. Is your total list available somewhere? It would perhaps be useful for everyone to email it to their contacts and create a daily post of one of your examples on Facebook and other social media to keep this circulating.

Permalink Reply by Charles H. Sims on April 21, 2012 at 7:09am

Because they don't want to..


Permalink Reply by USARogue on April 24, 2012 at 4:47pm

Hi guys,

Sorry about the delay in responding. I find most of my information by researching the blogosphere and just Googling "Waste, fraud and abuse (WFA) in government".

Here are some of the links I found.

http://www.aipnews.com/talk/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9335&pos...

http://politicalalchemist.com/index.php?topic=647.0

http://www.republican.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/blog?ID=652f4d52-...

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-wat...

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-wat...

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110824005417/en/Obama-Regul...

http://factreal.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/earmark-obama-its-raining-...

http://www.taxpayer.net/resources.php?category=&type=Project&am...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rep2/govt-corruption-incompetence-idiocy...

http://marathonpundit.blogspot.com/2010/02/stimulus-waste-15-notabl...

This one is older but it proves the fact that WFA is an ongoing problem:

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/most-outrageous-government...

This one is from Donald Berwick, former CMS Director, about WFA in Medicare and Medicaid. This should outrage even the most Liberal/Progressive. But it won't. The first and 12th paragraphs are the crime we are dealing with. Now with the government controlling 1/6th of our economy  (AKA Health Care) you can guarantee the amount of WFA will spiral even higher.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/health/policy/parting-shot-at-was...

I'll post more soon.

 

Permalink Reply by NWBill on April 20, 2012 at 9:31pm

Where do I sign up for this commission? Regular citizens should be on it as well; if Obama thinks 15 unelected, distant people can tell me what kind and how much healthcare I can get, why can't I tell THEM how much government they can run (other than voting them out of office, that is)?

Permalink Reply by Paul Artz on April 20, 2012 at 9:41pm

America must change

We, the America people, have a very serious problem in our economy and our nation. We’re going to have to change our attitudes and face some hard realities. Number one: We are the people (each of us) responsible for our country!!!!! In any civilization, past present or future, under any form of government, republic, dictator, king, bureaucracy or congress there is only one person responsible and you can meet that person when you look in the minor. When we abrogate our responsible to any form of government that government will eventually make use their slaves. Number two: You cannot turn a sex maniac loose in a whore house with a credit card. We in the United States have turned loose our congress, presidency, and bureaucracy with our credit card. We have got to take that credit card back or we will never right our economy or our nation. Number three!! Government is not God; it only thinks it is God. Government is a tool a people of a nation use to do those activities that we can do more efficiently and effectively, collectively then we can do individually. Four: Bankruptcy is on its way!!!! Our Federal debt including all unfunded obligations exceeds the net worth of the USA. We have spent 60 years creating this debt, if you think our children are going to spend their lives paying it off, your nuts. Five: We have no leadership in America today. We have a President that is a lost dog in tall grass and a congress that is brought and paid for by vested interests. Many of the lobbyists are foreign countries. It is up to us, we must solve the problem.

We have got to change our Constitution in a way that power is taken away from Government and makes the America people directly responsible.

1. Taxes must be taken off of everything except final consumption. When a family goes to the grocery store and buys $100 in groceries and the checker add $35.00 for federal tax, $10.00 for state tax $5.00 for local taxes and $40.00 to pay off the debt, the crap will come out of the heads of the America people about the cost of Government. Also, no person or item is exempted, everyone pays. Americans will be ready to fight back with gusto!!!!

2. Take away the power of Congress to pass legislation. All legislation (bills) must come before the people to be approved or disapproved. We have the communications capacity via the internet, etc. to do this. Furthermore, all bills must be broken down by item and a cost must be accessed to each item. We need line item voting power.

3. Any person or group, who can obtain 3% of the registered voter’s signatures, can design and/or present a bill (legislation) to congress. . Congress must debate, approve or disapprove legislation; however, again the people must approve or disapprove the legislation.

4. We need an accounting system that is as accurate as possible, so Americans know where their tax money is going and can make decisions.

With these new Constitutional tools, there will be 300 million Americans who will decide what they want to spend their dollars on. Our government and our nation would be changed forever. This recession and federal debt maybe a great blessing, in that we will advance our democracy, freedoms and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Or become slaves to our government. There is no way the United States Congress is going to solve this Debt problem. The American people are going to have to do it themselves. We are going to have to change our Constitution. There is no other way.

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