Obama’s Latest Act Of Economic Deception

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

All Americans should recognize the heading above as coming from our Declaration of Independence; it is a portion of the second paragraph. Many questions fill the minds of the Nation as we seem to be grasping for a new definition of what it means to be an American by the more liberal amongst us, while conservatives want a reaffirmation of our founding principles. This is how the debate is being framed or should be when all the hyperbole is set aside.

Consent of the governed, powerful in concept that is simple in its wording though, implies an obligation between the people as in “We the People,” those famous first three words of our Constitution granting the government the power to act in our stead! Furthermore, the use of “just powers” means that the people are granting to the government the right to administer and shepherd our collective destinies in a manner that is only in such form and keeping as being limited in its scope that the people feel will secure their rights, security, freedom, and happiness.

From these fifteen words sprang a concept of self governance that had not been known to exist before the creation and founding of this Nation and the greatest amount of wealth and technology ever to exist in the world. Our nation is bombarded with accusations and counter-accusations between two spheres of political thought, liberal versus conservative. While many charge that our current government has become a refuge for the indolent by their reliance on government sustenance by welfare and other assistance programs, data is proving this to be correct, regardless of the current economic downturn.

The proof of these charges lies in the fact of generational poverty that continues to exist when families have been on assistance for generations with no improvement in their ability to affect their income, save the increases granted by a benevolent government. These policies of poverty are created by the institutionalization of charity by government edict and control. We have the largest budget deficits ever under Mr. Obama’s tenure in office; the majority of these deficits have been the ballooning of entitlement benefits that is nothing more than government payments to it’s citizens.

This is not what is meant by just powers; furthermore, our government has taken the extraordinary step of eliminating an impartial view of its performance as a function of the greater economy in question. This is the most disturbing act of a Government that is full of questionable practices which reduces the freedom and liberty of the people at large. Without independent verification by access to the raw data that is produced by our economy and government, there cannot be good governance or just powers.

The decision to eliminate the Statistical Abstract of the United States, which has been in constant publication since 1878 and is produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, is deplorable. It is the comprehensive, statistical compilation of our social, political, and economic organization. This publication has been produced during every calamity to befall our nation and people since that time, with the Depression of 1921, the Great Depression, World War I & II, the elimination of the Gold Standard, and 9/11 to name a few. However, now that Obama has ascended the halls of power in Washington, it is sacrificed as an unnecessary expense for budgetary purposes.

The Census is mandated by the Constitution every ten years and is the way in which the seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned (as well as tracking the socioeconomic condition of the Nation at large as a function of population.) The flow of economic success is also captured by the census as the nation’s people move to areas and states with greater wealth-creating opportunities. The Statistical Abstract data is used by many organizations, governments, and individuals to assess the economic viability for placement, or needs based assistance, or industries and markets by entrepreneurs and corporations, or others that wish to invest capital in our economy. It is also used by charitable organizations to assess where the need for their services is greatest.

Our Congress has abandoned their primary obligation and not produced a budget that is mandated by the Congressional Budget Act for approximately the last 1070 days and has continued operation by Continuing Resolutions and failed their fiscal responsibility to the nation. This vital and necessary program that is a mere fraction of cost compared to the waste that this administration revels in has been deliberately done to eliminate an honest appraisal of their economic performance and stewardship.

This decision by Obama’s government at a time when our capitalist free market system is under attack by elements that wish to destroy or replace it with something else is frightening. When this action is combined with the support of this government and Democrats, it is now more than disconcerting it is duplicitous.

The statement of the Census Bureau:

“The U.S. Census Bureau is terminating the collection of data for the Statistical Compendia program effective October 1, 2011. The Statistical Compendium program is comprised of the Statistical Abstract of the United States and its supplemental products – - the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book. In preparation for the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 2012) budget, the Census Bureau did a comprehensive review of a number of programs and had to make difficult proposals to terminate and reduce a number of existing programs in order to acquire funds for higher priority programs. The decision to propose the elimination of this program was not made lightly. To access the most current data, please refer to the organizations cited in the source notes for each table of the Statistical Abstract.”

The elimination of our right to independently verify the actions, statements, and consequences of governmental and economic decisions as a function of economic performance precludes us from determining fact from fiction on our government’s policies. This will leave any and all statements of our federal government with a hollow and muted ring that will have the consequence of further erosion of our economy as capital will flee to freer markets and nations.

These actions appear to be deliberate acts when the amount of waste in government expenditures is considered, staggering in its implications. This is not “just powers,” but the corruption of our very way of life, as it cannot lead to good governance from the consent of the governed! This decision to end the ability to verify our Government’s performance will only end up leaving the People and Nation in the dark, to what end we can only guess. The poor will be disproportionately disenfranchised as charitable and assistance organizations will no longer be able to determine their needs beyond what is dictated by an oppressive government. This will only accelerate the incorporation of charity into government functions as an institution of government prerogatives towards enslaving the nation’s economic interests towards Obama’s own ends and goals.