Government Needs A Watchdog

By Joel Goodman

Who shall guard the guardians?

It is an ancient question, but the founding fathers well understood that one doesn’t hand over the guardianship of one’s liberty nor one’s fortune to anyone else but oneself, and expect it to be kept safely.

Frightfully, too many contemporary Americans have come to assume a “government” endeavor inherently has nobility of purpose. Too many have confused patriotism with blind allegiance to a presidential administration. Their histrionic displays are distractions to the true creed of America: loyalty to the ideals of Americanism and a sincere distrust of government.

While Republican and Democratic words may differ, there is little difference in their deeds.  The members of each party rhetorically campaign to be seen as the most patriotic – usually by posturing on how they would apply American military power against segments of the world they claim “hate us.”

In contrast, presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower was not afraid to campaign for an end to the Korean War. He never demanded “victory with honor,” nor wrapped himself in the flag. He displayed his allegiance to the American creed and demanded an end to a bad war, a war less evil in purpose than either of the two wars in which we are embroiled today.

Today, both parties have pledged to increase our involvement in Afghanistan. We had no honorable mandate for Iraq, and our mandate for Afghanistan was to get al-Qaida, not nation building. It is by and large the independent candidates who reflect the will of the American people and demand an immediate end to the wars.

It was not by whimsy that in framing the Constitution, military appropriations were limited to two years. It was intended that if the president and the Senate pursued an unpopular military adventure, the people could end it by electing a completely new Congress. How shocked the founding fathers would be to see how much power we have given to the presidency, and how careless the “people’s House” has become.

It was intended that the House of Representatives wield the greatest power, since it was elected every two years directly by the people – unlike the Senate, which was selected by the states, and the presidency, which was a combined selection by the people and state electors. It is the House that controls the purse. Without its support, the president is powerless.

The House almost took an honorable stand on the “bail-out,” at least until each party’s leaders applied political pressure and threats and made a bad bill more costly and ultimately more acceptable. The passage demonstrates that the Democratic/Republican Congress is capable of doing anything. They are out of control and no longer can be trusted. Too busy using fear tactics to promote the bill, they never explained that the situation was caused by a combination of greedy practices by powerful investment banks, mortgage brokers, insurance companies and hedge funds with the direct help of the Federal Reserve Bank and expensively lobbied-for government deregulation. 

There are far better solutions to the credit liquidity problem than what was passed, but because independent voices were excluded, we never heard them. Even without winning, a well-publicized independent candidate keeps the process honest by adding another point of view.

Both the Democrats and Republicans have been leading the country towards larger government and corporate globalism.

Both have trampled upon our constitutional liberties, and neither will do anything to stop the expanding police state. Both parties will continue to use our money to bail out the international bankers. Both support NAFTA and similar “free trade” deals. Neither will speak of protecting American industry with tariffs, nor of eliminating the personal income tax. Yet, voters continue to support Republicans and Democrats.

Both parties maintain their hold on power by fear mongering. And even though the Republicans lied to get us into Iraq , and the Democrats lied about getting us out, Republican voters will not seek out more truthful candidates because they are afraid that the Democrats will win. Democratic voters, afraid that Republicans might win, will not seek out more truthful candidates. It is truly a contest of “My liar is better than your liar.”

In spite of the congressional fraud and deception, the electorate will not contribute to independent congressional candidates because we’ve been convinced us that voting for an independent candidate is wasting our vote. The real waste, of course, is voting for the folks who’ve given us the same song and dance year after year. America is about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” not about bankrupting each and every one of us. I want my country back. It will take intelligent, strong decisions to do that. We can accomplish that, but only if we demand in-depth discussion for every office, not easily abandoned biannual political rhetoric couched in pleasant smiles.

Joel Goodman is an independent candidate running for Tennessee’s First Congressional District seat. He is a businessman who recently undertook saving the old Johnson City Clinchfield Railroad Station from demolition. He has worked in Europe, several U.S. cities and is a longtime civic activist.