A Modest Proposal

Under the US Constitution there are three branches of government. They are the Legislative Branch (the Congress), the Executive Branch (the President) and the Judicial Branch (the Supreme Court and Lower Courts). The three branches of government have equal power.

Which branch of the US government has the power to spend money?
Answer: Only the Congress has power to authorize spending. The President must spend the money that Congress orders spent.

Which branch of the US government has the power to tax?
Answer: Only the Congress has power to levy taxes. Congress writes the Federal tax code. The President must collect taxes in accordance with this tax code.

Which branch of the US government controls government borrowing?
Answer: The Congress controls borrowing by setting a debt ceiling. By law the government may borrow only as much money as the debt ceiling allows.

Spending = Taxes + Borrowing

The Congress controls all three of these factors. A problem arises because Congress likes to spend money but dislikes taxing and borrowing. The result of this behavior is that the equation gets out of balance; i.e., the left side is larger than the right side.

If the Congress orders more money spent than can be raised by taxes and borrowing, what can the President do? The President can ask Congress to cut spending (good luck) or the President can ask Congress to increase taxes and/or raise the debt ceiling. Who gets blamed when this happens?
Answer: the President.

I imagine the President is tired of always being blamed for trying to clean up the mess Congress makes. So I want to announce that, for the right amount of money, I’ll take the blame.  People can say, “Curses, VirtualWayne, look what you’ve done to our national debt!” I won’t mind as long the checks keep coming.