Time to Hold Congress Accountable for Debt Quagmire

September 14, 2012 By 10 Comments

Within the past decade, I’ve written columns titled “Deception 101,” “Stubborn Ignorance” and “Exploiting Public Ignorance,” all explaining which branch of the federal government has taxing and spending authority. So here it is again: The first clause of Article 1, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, generally known as the “origination clause,” reads: “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” Constitutionally and by precedent, the House of Representatives has the exclusive prerogative to originate bills to appropriate money, as well as to raise revenues. The president is constitutionally permitted to propose tax and spending measures or veto them. Congress has the authority to ignore the president’s proposals and override his vetoes.

There is little intellectually challenging about the fact that the Constitution gave Congress ultimate taxing and spending authority. My question is this: How can academics, politicians, news media people and ordinary citizens continually make and get away with statements such as “Reagan’s budget deficits,” “Clinton’s budget surplus,” “Bush’s tax cuts” and “Obama’s spending binge”? I know that the nation’s law schools teach little about Framer intent, but I wonder whether they tell students that it’s the executive branch of government that holds taxing and spending authority. Maybe it’s simply incurable ignorance, willful deception, sloppy thinking or just plain stupidity. If there’s an explanation that I’ve missed, I’d surely like to hear it.

Seeing as a president cannot spend one dime that Congress does not first appropriate, what meaning can we attach to statements such as “under Barack Obama, government spending has increased 21 percent” and “under Barack Obama, welfare spending has increased 54 percent”? You ask, “Williams, are you saying Obama is without fault?” Let’s look at it.

Knowing which branch of government has the ultimate taxing and spending authority is vital.

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  • http://harborlights/FinancialCartography F.Starkey

    It is just as bad at the State Level with their Millionaire Pensions. And, lying state agencies.
    Lying is the new normal. Public Schools are at the root. Then Tenure for State Workers.
    People have wormed their way into the public treasury depending on the next 2 -5 generations
    to pick up the tab. WAKE UP. Oregon is the harbinger for the USA. Write on that Williams.

  • guest

    Obama and his complicit media has shown there are many ways around the law. Look at his unilateral enforcement of the dream act. Doing what Mr. Williams suggest would led to a showdown with HHS who would either stop Medicare payments to steal the money for their hair brained schemes. DoJ would continue to sue insurance compaines for not following mandates handed down from their dear leader. Politically it would be a disaster especially with GE-NBC, Westinghouse-ViaCom and Disney-ABC rallying behind their big government subsidy messiah.

    Congress does have the spending powers but they go to the President for leadership. Constitutionally the President provides the state of the union which sets the standard from which Congress works. Congressional bills always go to a bicameral joint committee with Senators.

    Also anyone heard Democrats saying now "Don't blame us, we didn't have 60 votes" and then blame republicans for the housing crisis when Dems blocked 17 Fannie/Freddie reforms in a 50/50 Senate.

  • Stephan

    My question is this: How can academics, politicians, news media people and ordinary citizens continually make and get away with statements such as “Reagan’s budget deficits,” “Clinton’s budget surplus,” “Bush’s tax cuts” and “Obama’s spending binge”?

    I read the late Alan Stang and I know the answer: They are all part of the Communist Broadcast System.

  • amused

    Great article Williams , and I though critical thinking was dead .It seems atleast one person amongst the numerous authors here POSSESS it !

    BTW Stephan , you're a dope .

  • watsa46

    This is forceful redistribution. If given a chance they will rewrite the constitution to the benefit of the far left. But both Repub and Demos are guilty.

  • davarino

    And then to approve the measure that defaulted to certain spending cuts if "congress" didnt do their job is just insane. And the fact that we havent had a budget in 3 years is just ludicrous. WTF is going on? Lack of education, and the Chicago teachers want to go on strike? Really, teachers deserve any pay raise? I wish I had that kind of deal at my job, performance doesnt matter and I get to demand what pay I get, lovely.

    • Jim_C

      davarino, the teachers–who have not struck in 25 years, remember–are striking about a lot more than pay raises. Work conditions are lousy, for students as well as teachers, and bad work conditions are something unions have struck over since unions began. Imagine yourself stuck in a classroom, supplies for which you paid yourself, upwards of 90 degrees crammed with twice the amount of middle schoolers you'd normally deal with. I doubt you'd survive the week, much less get the job done you needed to. Something tells me you have a lot cushier deal than they do.

      But Rahm & company see an opportunity to cripple the union, and they are taking it.

  • Tanstaafl jw

    We have to gain control of the Senate and the Oval Office.

  • Jim_C

    Good article.

    You and I get it, but there's so much money invested in making sure most people don't get it. All you need to do is watch any news program, left or right. Let's face it: Congress just isn't sexy.

    To that end, if conservatives would get on board with the idea that there is a sort of unconscious (I'll be generous here) oligarchy undermining our democratic republic, we might actually get some work done getting this country back on the success track. I had hoped the TEA party would adopt that sort of attitude and a little more outrage over Wall Street shenanigans, but that movement was really just grass roots republicanism. And I hoped the Occupy movement would realize that Wall Street plays a very important role in our economic engine and is not a dime novel villain–but I hope for too much.

  • Frank Livingston

    I was having a discussion with family members the other day and told them the farther we get away from the date our Founding Fathers debated the Constitution and signed it the more our citizens would forget how government was designed to operate. We have a president who thinks he is a King and can make laws by Executive Order and spend money we do not have. We have politicians forgetting the limits our Founding Fathers placed on our national government when they wrote in the Constitution Article I, Section 8 and the limiting clauses 1-18. Simply put, if it was not listed in these eighteen (18) clauses then the federal government could not do it or spend out tax dollars on it and the 10th amendment kicked it which states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. When I asked them if they knew how a spending bill became law they did not know. When I asked if they knew the president could not spend a dime if the House did not authorize it, they did not know.
    I knew in the mid 1950s when I first learned about the Constitution if FDR could get a bill passed called the Social Security Act then citizens would demand more and more and our useless politicians would continue giving it to them because their main goal is to “bring home the bacon” and but them votes. Cultural Marxism has overtake our National/Homeland Security and Constitution so we just but their votes with stuff.
    I love Williams articles and we need more true American heroes like him teach us about our Constitution and our spending.