This ignores the real problem that a too big and too powerful government takes too many actions few voters have the time to study. They cannot figure out the consequences of the myriad effects on the People. The People know government is too big and is often harmful, but they do not know what to do about it. Indeed, they are very susceptible to being deceived and misdirected by politicians who regard it as their full-time occupation to become Master Manipulators of the disdained People. The recent history of the Obama Administration and the Democrat Progressive Elitist members of Congress has made this picture of politicians especially clear. As they proclaimed a new era of transparency, public documents have become massively less available to the public and insanely subject to being "lost." It has become ever more obvious that the leadership of the Democratic Party has little but contempt for the People and is completely enamored with the Big Lie concept.
The People, being highly befuddled by massive government and the many highly deceptive politicians, tend not to vote because the responsibility has become too much of a time burden, too much of an intellectual effort, and too odious emotionally for them. Since most citizens do not vote consequently and most of those who do vote do not understand what the government is doing, a huge power vacuum results. Politicians such as Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Cardin, and Sarbanes take full advantage of this to institute new laws designed to pay off special interests and to provide them with a very lucrative job as power brokers. They use that power to extort money from legitimate businesses which are the generators of wealth. In turn, business money and the money of the many special interests who are not businesses, has to be distributed to politicians to either keep them from doing harm to those businesses and other special interests or to curry their powerful favor. That this is the necessary result should be obvious to anyone, but apparently is not.
Sarbanes, son of Senator Sarbanes who saddled the People with the very deleterious Sarbanes-Oxley Law that has greatly reduced business productivity, is a sponsor of H.R. 20, the Government By the People Act. This proposed law is just to create still another pot of money for politicians to use to increase their power and to fertilize the growth of still Bigger Government. But note the as-usual deceptive title of the bill.
The only way to solve the problem of special interest control of government is to drastically reduce the power and scope of government so that it can be better understood by the People and so it will have much less potential to harm or favor special interests. Any other solution is nothing but a deception. Note also that the matching of deductible campaign contributions out of paid taxes is a violation of the freedom of conscience and freedom of speech of individual taxpayers. A taxpayer should not have to fund the election campaigns of politicians he opposes.
It is informative to understand how Rep. John Sarbanes sets up this deception. Here is his letter so you can read it yourself:
Dear Friend,
In today's political environment – where wealthy and well-connected special interests spend billions of dollars on elections and wield considerable influence in Washington – it's no wonder why Marylanders and others across the nation are fed up with government and turning away from the polls.
And who can blame folks for their cynicism? It's a perfectly rational reaction to the influence of big money on elections and on the governing machinery in Washington.
As you may know, the 2014 election set two disturbing records: more than $4 billion spent and the lowest turnout since the midterm elections of 1942. While there's no definitive proof of a causal relationship between these two trends, it's worth exploring.
For the average citizen, the most important motivation for casting a vote is the belief that, when your candidate arrives in Washington, he or she will govern in a way that represents your interest.
Unfortunately, Big Money is making a mockery of that motivation. Because deep-pocketed special interests are funding these campaigns, they are the ones calling the shots in Washington, and your interest – the public interest – gets left behind.
Still, there is reason for hope.
Most people who run for public office do so out of a sincere desire to help others and to make a difference in their community. Many are deeply frustrated by the outsized role of money in politics and long to restore Congress' credibility with the public. It's time for lawmakers to consider reforms that address the influence of big money and give everyday citizens a real voice in their government.
One path – putting limits on campaign expenditures – has been effectively blocked by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United and the difficult challenge of passing a constitutional amendment to repeal that decision. But there is another way to address big money's influence: set up a competing small-donor system focused on everyday citizens.
For example, a tax credit for small-donor political contributions would give more Americans the means to participate in the funding of campaigns. Boost those donations with matching funds, and candidates will begin to search out small donors instead of going to the PACs and the big-money crowd.
Imagine a Member of Congress standing in your living room listening to your voice because you have the power to fund his or her campaign. That's the promise of a small-donor matching system. And that's also why I've introduced H.R. 20, the Government By the People Act – to empower everyday citizens and to amplify their voices in Congress.
Big money might have won this election, but there's still hope that we can take back our democracy. It won't be without a fight.
To learn more about what you can do to fight big money in politics, visit: http://ofby.us/citizen-cosponsor/.
Sincerely,
John P. Sarbanes
As I hope you can see, he does acknowledge aspects of the problem, but then proposes a solution that is no solution and will only make matters worse. But all the while he poses as your friend. He is anything but that. He is a typical power-hungry Progressive Elitist who believes you are too stupid to choose your own values and manage your own life in a vibrant private sector. No, you should be made dependent upon Big Government so it can protect you from Special Interests in his deceptive viewpoint. What he neglects to say is that it is Big Government that is the machine that Special Interests use to control the People to their advantage and to do great harm to the People. The idea that simply choosing better politicians and better managers for the Big Government will make the subsequent Big Government the friend of the People is simply insane. It is a doomed attempt to reverse Cause and Effect.
The Framers of the Constitution understood the problem of Big Government and Special Interests and attempted to set up a mandate for a highly limited government of few enumerated powers so such problems would be minimized. Because we have allowed the size and scope of government to exceed these limits at the national level and corresponding limits in most local governments, we have rule by massive and Special Interest-controlled governments. We should always be wary of the fact that one of those Special Interests is politicians. Our huge governments are not Government by the People anymore, but Government by the Politicians. This Sarbanes Cash for Clunker Politicians bill is another slush fund for those Politicians.
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