Congress: The New Power Class

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There is no native criminal class except Congress.

- Mark Twain

Traditionally Americans have loved to hate their Congress. But in the last several years our country has changed. Most clear thinking Americans no longer hate our Congress -- we now fear it.

The reason for this fear is, and should be, deeply disturbing. Those who have carefully followed the bailout bills that Congress has recently passed know just how pervasive the corruption has become. But the whole story goes much deeper than mere trillions of dollars. America is losing (or has already lost) its constitutional republic.

Americans also traditionally love to hate the rich and powerful. Tales of the 19th century "robber barons" have the cultural status of epic myths in American history. Even if they were greedy and unscrupulous, the Rockefellers, Mellons, and Carnagies helped create wealth in this country. The acquisitions of their personal fortunes may have been ruthlessly pursued; but their fortunes were not solely obtained by stealing money from their fellow citizens using the power of the central government.

The robber barons became powerful because they created wealth. In that sense, these men earned their power and influence. Congress has turned this principle on its head. Our elected representatives become wealthy because they wield their political power in an unconstitutional, and often illegal, manner. The new power class in America is not productive ... it is Machiavellian. [snip]

There was a brief window of opportunity for our elected officials to stop the graft. The Republicans took the majority from the Democrats in Congress in 1994 on the heels of multiple revelations of massive fraud by the Democrats.

The Republicans had a plan and a playbook. It was called "Republican Contract with America." Here are the actual promises that were made:

FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;

SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;

THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;

FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs; [recently repealed by Pelosi]

FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;

SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;

SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;

EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

The plan lasted about two years. The Republicans discovered that it was much easier to raise a million dollars by having lunch on K Street, than it was getting 10,000 of their constituents to pop for a hundred bucks each. Republicans reneged on their contract and set about strong arming K Street lobbyists. In short, the Republicans became a more traditional power class, following the historical example set by the Democrats.

Now the Democrats are back in power. Our Congress is the new power class of America -- a robber baron pretending to be a Robin Hood.

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