How A United States President Can Govern Like A Dictator

We take a break to mention something that we all need to know about how to or not to govern.

It is possible for the president of the United States to govern like a dictator. These are called Executive Orders and they are not debated in the public forum. All presidents have used them, to some degree, though Democrat presidents seem to make more of them than Republican presidents.

Members of congress are not consulted; indeed, the only thing needed is the signature of a sitting president. This is how Al Gore got so many Executive Orders passed in the last months in the final year of the Clinton administration.

Obama promised us a change in how government is conducts business. After viewing his first Executive Orders it looks like governance as usual. No change from the status quos, as is evidenced from his first Executive Orders found at the link below.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/executive_orders/

This should make us all a bit nervous for two reasons.

1. The closing of Getmo will place the worst terrorists in the world at large.  Thay are sociopath’s, they have only one reason to exist . . . to kill you.  These are people that no one negeoate with, either imprison them or kill them.
2. There is no real debate about the actions that the Executive Order covers.  Weather is FDR keeping his friends employed at the federal level or George Bush limiting experiments on murdered human beings. 

If the new president is going to bring change to the method of governance, then these type of orders ought not to be done.  At first glance the first 100 hours look like business as usual.

Sherman

How To Tell Where A Politician, Past and Present, Has Placed Their Money.

One of the little known, if not completely misunderstood, parts of political life is the idea of conflict of interest.  Other politicians, in other countries, are normally touted as being evil because they own a part of some business, which receives a relegation benefit from the politician.

This happens her two and not just with the elected persons in national office.  Local government and state elected officials often route trolley tracks past property that they own.  As in the MAX expansion into the Oregon town of Milwaukee, where they mayor of the own got Tri-Met to rout the Max line past businesses property that he owns.

Definite conflict of interest can be found by following the money.  Al Gore owns stock in companies that are in the alternate energy business.  He owns part of these companies, proven by stock ownership, resulting in Al Gore damming conventional energy companies while campaigning his own interest.

With the large, public push, into an ever-expanding “green” energy-manufacturing infrastructure, one can only ask this question of the next president, the current governor of Oregon, and the newly elected form Oregon democratic senator.  “How much of these “green” providers do you known?”

This is a valid question because, in order to have a fully functioning democracy (where choice abounds) that is completely constitutional, industrial regulations need to be equal for all.  As soon as the regulations defer to one industry, while being obtrusive to others, the elected officials, in the legislative and executive branches of government, have a conflict of interest.

Bringing us back to the question of where is the money going.  I submit to you that if Obama, Al Gore, and Kewngoski owned stock in steel mills or a lumber mill, then energy regulations would favor those industries.

All of this can be avoided if, as I did when I was in office, every industry or group is treated equally.  This means that membership lists in neighborhood action committees, or any other organization, be made public.  As soon as someone says that, his or her “group” is for or against something, and then their membership list is private.  At that point the person speaking on behalf of the group has a vote of one, just like anyone else.

Watch to see which businesses or industries in your area receive more favored legislation than another.  Then you will know where the politicians have placed their money.

Sherman

Happy New Year – One Year Old!

This blog is a year old, this month, I trust that your New Year’s day went well.

The Budget Process – Do Not Panic

Now that he budget process is over, for most governments in the United States of America, there is a little something we need to mention. Budgets are a mixture of a wish list and a road map of where public funds will be spent in the coming year or biennium.  Some places use a biannual process for budgeting.

News media will cause panic in the streets when the initial budget is presented to the public.  No matte if the population in a town or county is large or small, the news media shouts that the budget is out of whack.  And they are right it is.

The initial budget contains everything that the staff and the elected officials want to do.  From having been in the elected position, the real question is what to fund and what to not fund.  Not funding does not mean that whatever should not be done, it does mean that it is not a priority.

The second round will be much better, although it can still be greater than the amount of projected income, and decisions need to be made.  These decisions are two fold:

• Do without.
• Raises taxes and fees.
• A mixture of the two that is cut back a service while raising the rate for it.

The only time for the public to panic is when the budget, for the coming year, does not balance the day before adoption.

Sherman