Finding a Real Solution to Government Gone Wild

Should bad behavior be rewarded in hopes of reform?  Or should it be punished?

Parents would have a pretty good answer to this, but the federal government apparently doesn’t. President Obama’s proposed budget for 2016 includes a $2 billion increase for the IRS, including nearly 10,000 new hires. The new personnel would answer phones, help to enforce Obamacare, and “crack down on tax delinquency.”

Other budget hikes would increase funding for internal operations, information systems, investigations, and regulatory spending. It even includes more funding and employees for the infamous tax-exempt division.

Will this satisfy them?  They’ve been complaining loudly and often about their supposed lack of funds. They claim that everything will take a lot longer this tax season, and taxpayers are experiencing longer-than-usual hold times.

Of course, it won’t. Giving a corrupt, inept agency more funds and seeing if they can do better next time is like giving an alcoholic a drink and hoping he won’t end up on the bathroom floor… this time.

Rebuilding and expanding the federal agency that carried out the targeting under Lois Lerner? Remember, this is the same IRS that intentionally and illegally targeted conservative citizen groups just for their political beliefs.

Then what is the solution? Some suggest slashing the agency’s funds until we get some answers, but we know who’d pay the real consequences then. Officials would continue to stonewall and taxpayers wouldn’t get assistance with their filing.

Of course, the solution is neither. American citizens aren’t parents dealing with an unruly child, and we have to stop choosing between the two bad options politicians hand down.

The problem of government-gone-wild demands a solution much more far-reaching. The IRS isn’t the only agency drunk with power in the government (just do a little reading on the EPA). Plus, career politicians serve the interests of D.C. instead of their home states, and the president issues executive orders any time he doesn’t get his way.

Every federal branch has seized power far beyond what it was intended to have.  These are all symptoms of the same problem – a massive federal government that has grown out of control.

A federal solution just won’t cut it. Neither party has shown it has the will to rein in government, because they’ll never reform a system that works to their own advantage.

As D.C. continually squabbles over how to put out the latest fire, concerned citizens doubt whether anyone is really capable of rolling back intrusive government regulations at all. The only effective solution is the one the Founders gave us in our governing document: a Convention of the States, outlined in Article V of the Constitution.

Through this process, citizens can propose constitutional amendments that force D.C. to be fiscally responsible, restore state sovereignty, and return decision-making power to the citizens. (And it’s well underway.)

It’s time to stop choosing between the two options politicians hand down and look for a real and lasting solution for government drunk with corruption and overreach.

It’s time to call these politicians a cab.

This article by Mark Meckler was first published on The Hill.