The Other McCain

by Smitty

Reboot Congress points to a particularly ignorant 17th Amendment outing by Ezra Klein, who either cannot or will not explore the reasons why giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys (O’Rourke).

Congress these days recalls a toilet. Not the bowl full of the unmentionable, but rather the tank. Specifically, the float and fill valve. Any useful system is stable. That is, some ‘negative feedback loop’ lets it know when enough is enough. The increasing height of the float closes the fill valve. Otherwise, that valve would effectively be a leak, overflowing the tank and flooding the bathroom.

When we look at What Went Wrong with the US Government, we should ask: where is that negative feedback loop? How does the Federal Government know when enough is enough? This was the whole point of delegating a few powers to, and ensuring separation of those powers within, that Federal government by those savvy gents a couple hundred years back.

The 17th Amendment was like yanking the float out of the tank. The size, scope, debt, and incumbency rate of the Federal government have increased, while the approval rating has decreased. Why? Combined with Amendment 16 and the Federal Reserve Act (also born in 1913), the District of Columbia is become the Distributor of Cash. Economic vitality which should bubble up from a private sector economy instead trickles down from an opaque, unaccountable Federal Reserve bank, propping up State and local governments that need to face their corruption.

This is not to argue that a repeal of the 17th Amendment would result in a less corrupt Senate. Rather, the problem would move back to the State houses. However, if a Mitt Romney is Governor of Massachusetts when a Ted Kennedy is up for renewal, there may be greater likelihood of a different flavor of corruption going to Washington, rather than something as atrocious as “Kennedy seat” ever escaping an American lip.

On its own, repealing the 17th Amendment and removing this short-circuit around the States is insufficient, in my view. The States are now dependent upon the Distributor of Cash for day-to-day function. This is why, during the 2008 Presidential debate, when asked about the housing crisis, noted visionary Senator John McCain said he’d have the Treasury work with lenders on the housing crisis. Knob.

The Administration’s non-approach to leadership, in unholy matrimony with the an infamous Congress, results in planning consisting of borrowing unrepayable amounts of money to keep a dead system alive as long as possible. What happens when countries ‘unexpectedly’ balk and buying US debt, and taxpayers balk at paying more taxes is unclear, though the blame will obviously be laid at the feet of Bush.

Putting Senators back under control of States, removing the 16th Amendment and doing major surgery on the Federal Reserve will allow for the restoration of the feedback loop. We can put the float back on the fill valve. As the tank gets full, or budget outlays approach the revenue limit, a Senate representing the interests of the several States, instead of this perverse Distributor of Cash, would be more likely to tell DC to lay by its dish.

The admittedly simple example of the toilet tank is only meant to communicate the notion of a negative feedback loop. The Federal government, and the wreckage of the last century, are going to require massive effort at every level to recover. We The People have to demonstrate commitment to entering a post-Progressive era, or the powers that be will simply await for the storm to blow over. Folks, the work is still in the beginning stages.

Giving historical decisions like the 17th Amendment a cold, hard look is crucial. In the Smith dictatorship, the Ezra Kleins will be forced to undertake some engineering education. I feel that the practical, tangible, physical discipline of making something work would be a desperately needed intellectual laxative for this sort. That, or the recorded wailings would sell well.