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WILL GOVERNMENT EVER LISTEN?
State Rep. Daryl D. Metcalfe (R-Butler) We the People are the words inscribed on the outside of the National Constitution Center that served as a backdrop for the State Legislators for Legal Immigration rally I coordinated on July 27. State legislators from New Hampshire to Oregon joined me as we expressed the will of We the People, calling for our government to secure our borders and work across all levels of government to end the illegal alien invasion. From Arizona to Pennsylvania and across party lines, American citizens in overwhelming majorities want this issue addressed. How is it that Congress and the President do not get it? Let's hold that thought for a moment and consider this year's state budget. This year's budget impasse was created by the governor and his accomplices in the House Democrat majority (102 to 101). The budget deadline of June 30th came and went as the governor called for excessive spending, increased taxes and more debt. I voted against the budget because of the excessive spending, which is adding to the burden carried by taxpayers. This year's state budget increases spending by almost two and a half times the rate of inflation. The budget passed 46 to 2 in the Senate, with only two Republican senators opposing the increased rate of spending. The vote in the House of Representatives was 140 to 63, with the majority of House Republicans opposing the excessive spending. The governor's budget impasse was the longest one during my service as a legislator and was historic because it occurred during a year that the state had more than a half billon dollar surplus! I had hoped that the last election cycle might have taught the politicians in Harrisburg that We the People wanted them to live within their means and stop taxing our means away from us. But a budget that increases spending by more than twice the rate of inflation proves that they did not. The budget process did display the need for real reform in government, rather than the window dressing reforms promoted by some. Transparency is needed for true reform. I will endeavor to expose a few of the problems that became evident through this year's budget process. A term frequently heard in government, and practiced from school boards and local township government to state and federal government, is political cover. If we are to have true reform, we must turn back the political covers that many politicians hide behind. Now, some of the legislators who voted for the budget will try to explain that they protected the taxpayers because they kept Rendell from increasing taxes. However, the logic of their argument is flawed. Increasing spending is ultimately paid for by you, the taxpayer. Political cover was created by Rendell's call for increasing tax rates, so that the big spenders could try to argue that they stopped Rendell from increasing your taxes, when actually they allowed him to once again spend excessively, which costs you, the taxpayer. They also allowed Rendell to consume the half a billion plus dollars in surplus, which should have been refunded to the taxpayers. Another form of political cover for big spenders is to manipulate the numbers so that the increases appear smaller than they really are. One of the number tricks this year was to move money out of the General Fund expenditures into special funds to be appropriated, including $318 million to a new mass transit fund, and then claim that spending was reduced. A historic problem with government is the "Let's Make a Deal" approach of some politicians. Before arriving in Harrisburg, I believed that I knew and despised what most people know about pork barrel amendments. These amendments drive the cost of government budgets higher and higher as legislators attach amendments to bills for their own special interests. What surprised me was the fact that during the legislative process, leaders of both parties will commit to each other a certain number of votes from their respective caucuses for certain pieces or packages of legislation. After the deal is struck, which may be a deal against the will of the majority of the membership of either caucus, the leaders go to work to deliver their votes for the deal. This is what just occurred with this year's budget. Rumors abounded prior to the final budget vote that our Republican leadership was working against us by recruiting Republican members to vote in favor of the governor's excessive spending. Of course, the Republican leadership has access to the purse strings of the caucus legislative expense accounts. The majority of the House Republican caucus chose principle instead of pork. One revealing aspect of this year's budget vote was it uncovered how some politicians will use legislation for political cover. Earlier this year, two senators introduced legislation to place limits on state spending. A majority of senators signed on as cosponsors of this legislation, garnering the support of 28 members out of a total Senate membership of 50 senators. In this year's final budget vote, only 2 of the 28 cosponsors voted to enforce the spending caps they advocated by voting against the budget that increased spending far beyond the limits of their own proposed legislation! Transparency in government is one of the true reforms needed to ensure our government serves We the People. Whether it is the federal government ignoring the will of the people regarding the illegal alien invasion, or the state government ignoring the will of the people to live within its means, the only solution for We the People is to be an informed electorate, who is ever vigilant in holding those elected to office accountable. CapNews Guest Speaker: Archives |
