The Rise of the Unelected Bureaucrat

My "All In Perspective" Column for the Georgetown Advocate, Hill Country News, and Jarrell Star-Ledger.  Since my editor's deadlines, it has become even more apparent that no-one will be held accountable for the IRS scandals.  One aspect I did not include in the original column is the part played by the NTEU- the National Treasury Employees' Union.  Most Americans are unaware that the IRS is largely controlled by the NTEU, and that the union's leaders have a cozy relationship with President Barack Obama.  Once again, the 'unholy alliance' between public sector unions and government is thwarting the democratic process.  (Read more.)

Original Column:

In his classic work Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens mocked the inefficiencies of government with references to the “Office of Circumlocution.”  This fictional government office had “its finger in the largest public pie, and in the smallest public tart.”  Those seeking justice for matters large and small were utterly at the mercy of bureaucrats who insisted on endless paper submissions and re-submissions, and who created a “sea of obfuscation that could not be navigated.”  Neither the elected Members of Parliament, nor even the Prime Minister could overcome the power of the Office of Circumlocution.

It doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to compare today’s IRS with the Office of Circumlocution.  Most Americans took a dim view of IRS machinations prior to the recent scandals and now only the most partisan of partisan hacks express any confidence in the office.  In the past few weeks the public has been inundated with stories of delayed applications, lengthy and inappropriate questionnaires, and targeted tax audits.  Certainly members of the various Tea Party groups, pro-life organizations, and any group critical of the Obama administration would readily agree with the Dickensian comparison.

While the U.S. Constitution provided for a limited government that protected individual freedoms, the truth is that unelected bureaucrats wield an inordinate level of power over American lives.  Yes, we elect the members of Congress, city councils, and school boards to theoretically create policy.  However, those policies are heavily influenced and completely implemented by appointees and employees.  As in the case of the Affordable Care Act, countless unelected government employees crafted the 2,700-page bill, and many congressmen and women voted for the measure without even reading it.  Likewise, appointees and employees in the Department of Health and Human Services have already released 700 pages of new regulations related to ACA.

Although the recent IRS and Department of Justice scandals have at least temporarily restrained some bureaucratic power, it appears that once again the buck stops nowhere.  The President and his top men and women plead ignorance and merely feign benign disgust over the ‘incompetence’ of low-level employees.  A few of those employees have been reassigned, and one department head has resigned a few weeks ahead of schedule.  Once the dust settles, in all likelihood the IRS will be back to business as usual.
 
Of course, the power of the bureaucrat is not limited to the federal government, but extends to local actors as well.  In the recent investigations of CSCOPE, it has been difficult to determine which elected body has jurisdiction over the curriculum, and the bureaucrats at Texas Education Service Centers seem to have been using the program to implement the Obama Common Core standards that were firmly rejected by Texas.  In some cases local officials have completely abandoned any pretense of answering to elected representatives, like the Round Rock ISD Superintendent who told the Board of Trustees he had the right to determine what information they could have about the district.
 
An unfortunate number of Americans have unwarranted faith in government to cure all of society’s ills.  As Jonah Goldberg recently stated, people tend to believe in the ‘omnicompetency’ of government officials, and choose to ignore the real nature of mere mortals.  Government bureaucrats at their best will err, but in some cases will be utterly corrupt.  Now the same IRS officials who have allegedly harassed and intimidated American citizens will be in charge of implementing Obamacare and will wield even greater power over our daily lives.  Our big government solutions will always be hampered by inefficiency, incompetence, and at times outright corruption.  It is only by limiting the power of government that we can escape the tyranny of the unelected bureaucrat. 

TPPF 2013 Policy Orientation: Highlights from Day 2

TPPF Banner at 2013 Policy Orientation.

As I warned my readers in Part I, I'm not much of a 'live blogger,' so I haven't yet posted on Thursday's  Texas Public Policy Foundation 2013 Policy Orientation.  Here's just a few highlights from Day 2 for those who are not policy geeks.   

Highlights for non-geeks:

Bill Bennett:  "California is the Lindsey Lohan of the states."  And much discussion about the "Texas Model." 

Rick Perry:  2013 Legislative Session faces quite a different scenario from 2011, but in some way having ample funds might be more of a challenge.  (grossly paraphrased.)  He asserted that the best use of the people's money is to give it back to them.  Very pleased that the Governor also called for new abortion restrictions based on fetal pain studies. 

Jonah Goldberg:  "At the end of the day, if you are not persuading people you disagree with, you lose."

Texas energy boom is underway and contributed some $8.5 billion in taxes and royalties to state and local governments.  Watch out for the EPA! (From "Unleashing the Texas Energy Colossus")

Legislature is encouraged to control spending while addressing "Big" Issues like water and transportation.  Rep Phil King calls for Texas Constitutional amendment regarding state spending cap. (From "Getting a Grip on Government Spending")

Immigration Debate- Introduced by Texas Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, and featuring Congressman Joaquin Castro, Linda Vega of Latinos Ready to Vote, Brad Bailey of The Texas Immigration Solution, Brian Kennedy of the Claremont Institute, and moderator Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal.  

The United States needs to have an immigration policy, and Texas is uniquely positioned to lead on this issue.  (Debate on "Immigration: The Texas Way")  Interestingly, the Twitter feed for #TPPF on this one elicited quite a bit of hostility from non-attendees.  TPPF was immediately attacked for being 'Open Borders,' which is completely bizarre. In the first place, this was a debate, with several different ideas up for discussion, and the speakers were from both sides of the aisle.  Secondly, we have got to be able to discuss possible solutions without hysteria.  As several speakers (and my own State Rep Larry Gonzales,) have noted, the Democrats are the ones benefiting from immigration as an unresolved issue.  We need solutions and have to answer some tough questions.  As Todd Staples, whose book Broken Borders, Broken Promises will be published this year, asked, "Do we really want to grow a government big enough to round up 11 million people?”  I don't think so.

School Choice is the civil rights issue of our time.  Our current one-size-fits-all system is lousy for kids. (Joseph Bast)  Florida's tax credit system has benefited the state's public school system as a whole.  Louisiana State Rep Steve Carter was on hand to detail how they passed sweeping education reforms in his state, and it was just lovely to hear someone inside the state of Texas pronounce "New Orleans" correctly.

The final event I was able to attend was a press conference with the National Association of Scholars.  NAS has just completed a study of U.S.  history courses offered at the University of Texas and Texas A&M that shows that these courses "downplay the nation's economic, military, and political history and dramatically overemphasize the role of race."  As a former history major and teaching assistant, this study comes as no surprise to me.  Read the study for yourself at the NAS website.

Okay, Day 3 summary coming...soon.  And lots of wonderful blog fodder for the next few months...

TPPF Policy Orientation for the 2013 Texas Legislative Session: Updated

Will be spending the next three days as a guest at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Policy Orientation for the 2013 Legislative Session.  Having attended a TPPF orientation previously, I know the next three days will be akin to 'drinkin' from the fire-hose'.  True to form, the Foundation will be providing an impressive quantity of quality research and analysis for those interested in public policy. 

Theoretically, I can engage in 'live' blogging during the event; but I warn my readers that I'm not so great 'off the cuff.'  As a true introvert, I prefer to spend time processing before daring to offer up interpretation.  But who knows?  Perhaps I can share a few nuggets of TPPF wisdom.

Stay tuned:  Today's sessions will focus on "The Movement and the Media," and we'll be hearing from Senator Ted Cruz, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Ramirez, Erica Grieder, and others.

10:00 A.M.  This morningTPPF's Joshua Trevino and Erica Grieder are discussing Grieder's forthcoming book, "Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas."  She has highlighted some of the inherent strengths of the Lone Star State that have made Texas a powerhouse state, but also presents concerns over the state's ability to adapt to shifting economic realities.

11:21 A.M.   Second session with Joshua Trevino and Ben Domenech (The Transom and a founder of Red State).  Session is entitled "What Went Wrong and How We Get it Right:  Conservative Media in 2012 & Beyond."  Domenech points out that Schools of Journalism don't effectively prepare reporters for media jobs; writers in the media have little knowledge or experience in the areas on which they report.  Consequently, many 'informative' articles are riddled with errors and not reliable sources of information.  Also, conservative viewpoints are largely absent from mass media 'non-political' publications.  (I've noticed women's magazines in particular are extremely left-wing and very, very political!)

Update:  8:12 P.M.   "We should champion every day the 47%." -Ted Cruz
Lunch speaker was Senator Ted Cruz- amazing how the entire audience seemed enraptured by our junior senator, and they were not disappointed.  He spoke about the problem for Conservatives in the 2012 elections:  "47%"  Our mistake, according to Cruz, was that we did not address the concerns of the 47%, when we should have articulated that conservative policies work and would actually improve their daily lives.  Cruz noted that Obama's policies have hurt, not helped the poor, and that African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates have risen significantly since 2009.  Also noted that school choice reforms would empower the poor.  "We should champion every day the 47%."

Afternoon sessions included a highly entertaining discussion with Michael Ramirez, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist of Investors Business Daily, and later discussion with Jonah Goldberg of NRO (National Review Online.)  Goldberg included an interesting assertion that young voters are the "iPhone Generation" and accustomed to having access to choices and freedom, but strangely vote for the "one-size-fits-all Post Office Party."  He hopes that the logical disconnect will eventually dawn on them, and believes Libertarianism is the path to reaching younger, uninformed voters. 

We finished up with a special screening of "Rebel Evolution," a documentary by Anna Zetchus Smith that featured several former liberal activists who had 'evolved' in their thinking about politics and the Right.  (Including the delightful Ted Hayes.)  The main protagonist of the film Brandon Darby was on hand for Q&A about his persecution for turning FBI informant on violent 'peace' activists.

Okay, that's about as good as it gets for this writer for 'live blogging.'  More to come for the next two days, and plenty of blog fodder once I've gotten to properly process.