SHALL WE AT LEAST SHAME THEM WITH THE BILL?

SHALL WE AT LEAST SHAME THEM WITH THE BILL?
By; The Speaker in the House
Claudia Roazen

Why does Congress spend our money so frivolously whether they claim to be Liberals or Conservatives? All Americans know that both Democrats and Republicans pork barrel equally to help buy votes back home. Both parties campaign on fiscal responsibility but never do they cut the size of our government or appreciably downsized the budget. American business has learned to run leaner and meaner while Congress continues to grow ‘biggy and piggy’.
Why? Simple! They have little motivation because it’s not their money! When we don’t have personal responsibility or liability we act differently. When it is someone else’s money or property we operate with less prudence. We all know that when the company is paying for our lunch we order Lobster but when we have to reach into our own wallet, we’re satisfied with the tuna melt. When we rent a car and take out the cheap Insurance policy, we drive more recklessly because we don’t own or car about the vehicle. Therefore we know why Congressional politicians and government procurement offices spend and waste our money without guilt or reprisal and there is little we taxpayers and Americans can do about it. Voting them out of office only works temporarily to scare those not up for re-election but then Washington quickly returns to ‘business as usual’.
However, there may be an interesting alternative solution to the problem. When there are scandals in Washington involving the president and or his Administration they always call for an Independent Council. To avoid a perceived or real conflict of interest by the Justice Department and to assure all that the investigation was thorough and unbiased. We Americans need an Independent Budget Oversight Committee consisting of people who pledge to go through the Congressional budget looking for programs that are fraudulent, wasteful, and redundant or just plain corrupt to give American voters knowledge.
NBC NEWS has being doing a series that others have done called the “Fleecing of America” in which its news reporters expose government waste and fraud. What if we promoted to Congress that it adopt and allow this Independent Tea Party Panel to review the nation’s budget and then report back to the American people how much is being wasted and how much could be saved. They could alert Americans by using a grade system for Programs and expenditures that would scale from A to F thereby requiring politicians to either rescind the worst graded programs or be held accountable at the ballot box. This would give the taxpayer knowledge and targeted voting power to put political pressure on both Democrats and Republicans to be more judicious in creating and keeping government programs.
This Independent Budget Oversight Panel would revolve every four years changing out members to ensure that both Lobbyist and Congress does not corrupt the members and that the members themselves don’t develop a ideological bias to grade bad policy or programs with high marks. Its members should be retired professionals, business people, and homemakers in an eclectic mix of a cross section of the average American citizen. There would be no salary except that the Tea Party would help pay for their room and board while working in Washington. It could work as a Jury works in that all twelve or ten members would have to unanimously agree on the grade of any program. They could ask for expert advice from other retired accountants, lawyers, bankers or use other knowledge gathering and fact finding consultants to help them with their assessments.
Now, I know that there are already a number of groups out there commenting and watch dogging for the American taxpayer but this idea would be different in two ways. One, it would get the acceptance, approval and credibility of Congress and two the panel would revolve and involve average non-activist citizenry. People could sign up much like a Jury pool and have their names be randomly picked to serve.
Both parties are out of control. The Spendocarats and the Shoplicans have both used the American taxpayer’s wallet with reckless abandon. If we can’t cut up their credit card, shall we at least shame them with the bill?