What is the “Deep State”? To me it is the ruling Party in America. It does not matter of a Republican controls the White House or the Congress—the bureaucrats will control the process and make decisions, not those elected to do so. For instance, in March Biden ordered all government employees back to the office. Per Varney and Company on Fox Business Channel, less than 25% of Federal employees show up at the office! Why haven’t they been fired? Because the Deep State controls government not our elected officials.
Recently Congress passed an increase in the national debt—with an unlimited increase allowed. So, in the first month of the unlimited increase the debt went up by $400 billion. Instead of increasing the debt, they should have capped it at $31 trillion—and had the Deep State cut its expenditures. That is how you end the Deep State—fire those that will not work and stop increasing the debt.
THE DEEP STATE
By Richard Colman, Exclusive to the California Political News and Views 8/4/23 www.capoliticalreview.com
The Deep State can be defined as a plethora of government programs and the governmental employees who administer these programs. The Deep State requires plenty of taxpayer dollars.
In his first campaign for president in 2015-2016, Donald Trump attacked the Deep State.
Now, more than half-a-dozen years later, the Deep State still exists.
The Deep State carries a cost. Currently, the American national debt is $32 trillion. When Andrew Jackson was president (1829-1837), there was no national debt.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan’s first year as president, the national debt reached $1 trillion. In 1981, a $1 trillion national debt seemed outrageous. Instead of reducing or eliminating the national debt, the debt has ballooned to its present level of $32 trillion.
How long can the national debt keep expanding? And, if it continues to grow, what are the consequences for the United States?
National debts don’t appear automatically. They are the product of a spendthrift Congress and a spendthrift president.
As president, Donald Trump promised to get rid of the Deep State. Instead, the Deep State continued to expand and the national debt increased by $7 trillion to $8 trillion.
Parts of the Deep State are popular or necessary. What would happen if the federal government cut back on defense spending, veterans benefits, Social Security, or Medicare? Any attempt to cut these expenditures, would be met by strong opposition from Congress.
The national debt is the product of years of deficit spending ever since Jackson was president. For about 186 years, these deficits have grown to levels that could bring ruin to the United States. To have deficits and debt, the federal government has to borrow money. That money comes from American citizens, American corporations, and foreigners (including foreign governments). Those entities, which are lending the U.S. money, expect to be paid back with interest. Why would any entity lend money to America if there were no assurance of repayment?
No one knows exactly how long the U.S. can keep borrowing.
However, there are warning signs that the U.S. is reaching the limit of its ability to borrow.
In August 2011 and again in August 2023, agencies that rate America’s credit worthiness have downgraded America’s ability to repay borrowed money.
Eliminating the perils of the Deep State, annual deficits, and the national debt should be the nation’s top priority. Instead, the national agenda is made up of such issues as Trump’s recent indictments, the abortion issue, illegal immigration, inflation, and a perceived lowering of the American standard of living.
Trump has had his chance to attack the Deep State. President Joseph Biden has done nothing to reduce or eliminate the Deep State.
The time has come to attack some or all of the Deep State. But any attack must involve cooperation between Congress and the president.
In the 1990’s, such cooperation existed. President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich compromised. Gingrich, a Georgia Republican and Clinton an Arkansas Democrat, agreed to produce balanced budgets. Clinton supported having a balanced budget as long as Social Security and Medicare were preserved.
The result of this cooperation was four consecutive balanced federal budgets from 1996 to 2000. During this era, Clinton said that the budget surpluses that resulted could be used to pay down the national debt.
However, after Clinton left office, more budget deficits appeared. There have been no balanced budgets since Clinton’s departure from the White House in 2001.
During Clinton’s presidency, Congress, in 1996, passed and the president signed legislation permitting the Item Veto. The Item Veto allows a president (or a chief executive such as a governor) to eliminate parts, especially the financial parts, of a legislative act without vetoing an entire bill. For example, if Congress appropriated $5 billion for a given program, the Item Veto would allow a president to cut $1 billion from the original $5 billion.
(The governor of California has an Item Veto, sometimes called the “blue pencil.”)
However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Item Veto because Clinton had not used it. Later, when Clinton did use the Item Veto, the Supreme Court ruled that Clinton’s action was unconstitutional.
The Item Veto must be restored. The current Supreme Court may have a different view from the High Court that existed in the Clinton era.
During Clinton’s years as president, 22 million jobs were created, inflation was low, and the American standard of living increased.
The time has come to repeat the Clinton-Gingrich cooperation. This cooperation will require a strong commitment by Congress –- both the House and the Senate -– and the president.
Trump is probably not the president who has the skills to compromise. Trump, during his presidency, never showed the political skills of a Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, or Bill Clinton.
Joseph Biden, who is committed to supporting the demands of special interests, such as certain ethnic groups and labor unions (including teachers’ unions), is not likely to balance the federal budget.
If the 2024 presidential election results in a Trump-Biden rematch, the economy of the United States could suffer dramatically.
To get back to prosperity might take a national calamity like an economic depression (which can bring about massive unemployment), very high inflation, a stock market crash, or civil unrest.
Does any American want such a scenario?
