Now, isn't that just what we need in these hard economic times? Yet another level of highly paid, government bureaucracy for our small (and large) business owners to have to wade through! Increased government supervision, more government regulations, and more potential pitfalls with which the business community must struggle .
Large corporations retain people whose job is to insure compliance where it is unavoidable, and to legally (in a technical sense) avoid compliance wherever they find loopholes. On the other hand, the small business owners - at the "Mom and Pop" level - cannot afford, and do not generally have, such people available on their staff.
The Obama administration has done nothing to benefit small business... absolutely nothing. Instead the government continues to generate more laws, rules and regulations for them to wade through (much like slogging through the Everglades while trying to avoid being bitten by anything that can end your life). Small business doesn't generate enough disposable income to support politicians at the level to which they have become accustomed, and in response, the government does nothing to assist or protect them.
We have enough "Secretaries" (and far too many overreaching Czars) of this and that already. Adding more does not benefit the American people, it is simply a payback for political support. The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. Several of these positions - and their departments - could be eliminated, and nobody would even notice they were gone.
What has Agriculture done to earn its keep? It has allowed Monsanto to market genetically modified seeds... which KILL competing seeds in and around that farm, and (reportedly) taint the soil so that only Monsanto seeds will grow there.
Education? They come up with ideas such as "No Child Left Behind", without considering that there are some children who are "genetically wired" (or are simply unmotivated) to move forward with their peers. Every day we are dropping further behind in the areas of mathematics and science. What does the Department of Education do to correct this? Instead of demanding effective teaching, we lower the standards for a passing grade! This approach insures only that we are well on the way to a generation of "educated idiots". They worry too much about the "egos" of children, and too little about their internalization of the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in life.
Energy? Established in 1977 to "reduce our dependency upon foreign oil", the DOE has yet once to fulfill its charter - in 35 years! Our dependence upon foreign oil has increased dramatically in those 35 years - even with outrageous prices at the pump! We have, in the Bakken: "A conservative estimate of oil in place in the Bakken is 300 billion bbl, but it is locked in low permeability rock. Continental Resources Inc. places the quantity of recoverable oil in the US Bakken at as much as 24. billion bbl. It is projected, that at our current rate of consumption, we have 250-300 years of oil underground - more than all of the OPEC nations combined!" Yet our government won't permit us to fully tap this readily available resource. Instead they continue to import the majority of our oil needs, while wasting our tax dollars on political grants for "clean/alternative energy sources". Yet every attempt to meet the requirement for generating clean energy has failed (Solyndra being the best known).
Health and Human Services? I don't see where they have done anything except make acquiring those services more difficult. Get rid of the upper echelon, and make the Secretary (a typical do-nothing Cabinet-level position) a directorship outside of the Cabinet, and save us $53,000p/a on each Cabinet Secretary replaced.
Homeland Security? If the DHS truly cared about homeland security, our borders would be secure. I agree that we need a single point to which ALL security agencies are responsible. If for no other reason than to eliminate the "territoriality" and sense of "ownership" that these agencies appear to have, and are therefore reluctant to share with other security agencies. Such attitudes distort the all-important "big picture", and result in documented tragedies - such as 9/11/01 and 9/11/12. I would suggest we eliminate "Homeland Security" in its entirety, and have all security agencies report to the National Security Agency. That responsibility is certainly implied in the name.
Housing and Urban Development? I have no idea how that agency has benefited either the housing market or the development of urban resources. Housing costs continue to rise almost weekly, and urban blight is rampant.
Labor? The Department of Labor consists of 26 subordinate "Bureaus" and "Offices", including the Bureau of Labor Statistics - which houses the National Labor Review Board. The NLRB is supposed to contain five members, with no more than three of the same party. The NLRB is currently stacked with Democrat Union supporters, which doesn't exactly make it's decisions "impartial". No more than TWO members from the same party would require that a third party (or non-affiliated) representative be included as a tie-breaker.
Treasury? Secretary Tim Geithner - himself a tax dodger, should have gotten a "No Confidence" vote from the Senate. How can we be expected to have any faith in that kind of leadership?
How are these government "servants" compensated? Lavishly... as shown in the following "Executive (Pay) Schedule":
Level I (below) - Each of these "Departments" has multiple subordinate "Bureaus of" and "Offices of" and "Agencies" under it's control.
Level II - The term "Deputy Secretaries" (as used below) is correct, as this function is always one of multiples, when there should be only one "Deputy Secretary" (the person who takes charge when the boss is on vacation, takes a sick day, etc.) beneath THE "Secretary".
Level III - "Under Secretaries"? Okay... but double their responsibilities - thereby eliminating 50% of them - and reduce their pay by 30%.
Level IV - "Assistant Secretaries", etc. See Level 3 for recommendations. "Boards and commissions" should be unpaid (volunteer/appointed) service, with compensation only for travel expenses and the mid-day meal (not to exceed $25 per day) incurred.
Level V - See Level 3 for recommendations, plus reduce their pay by 40%. Members of boards, commissions should be unpaid (volunteer/ appointed) service, with compensation only for travel expenses and the mid-day meal (not to exceed $20 per day) incurred.
| Executive Schedule | |
| Level 1: Cabinet-level officials | $196,700 |
| Level II: Deputy secretaries of departments, secretaries of military departments, & heads of major agencies | $177,000 |
| Level III: Under secretaries of departments & heads of middle level agencies | $162,900 |
| Level IV: Assistant secretaries & general counsels of departments, heads of minor agencies, members of certain boards & commissions | $153,200 |
| Level V: Administrators, commissioners, directors, & members of boards, commissions, or units of agencies | $143,500 |
We MUST DEMAND that our government rein in it's spending, and get our deficit(s) under control! U.S. goods and services trade with China totaled $539 billion in 2011. Exports totaled $129 billion; Imports totaled $411 billion, for a deficit of 3.14:1. Put into dollars, that's a deficit of $282B in China's favor. Whoever in the USTR's Office of China Affairs, is responsible for managing the horrific formulation and implementation of U.S. trade policy for China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Mongolia, should be FIRED! Our National Debt increases at the rate of approximately $162,500,000 per hour, 24 hours per day! That's $2,708,333.33 per minute or, $45,138.89 per second!
The Obama administration has increased our National Debt by almost $6T. We (as a nation) are in a money hole so deep, it will take several generations to recover - IF even then. Remember that on your way to the voting booth, and then cast your vote for AMERICA!
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