Carte Blanche: Omnibus bills must be outlawed

Andrew Weber

Twice in less than three months, it seems highly likely the federal government will shut down due to a lack of a budget. There has been no apocalyptic event that has struck the nation and stopped Congress from meeting. Nor has there been a terrorist attack that has killed or maimed large swaths of the electorate. There has, however, been a desperate struggle going on in our nation's capital. Between those who want to continue business as usual and those who want the appearance of change or resistance to the status quo, but ultimately want to continue business as usual. The omnibus bill passed by the House of Representatives a few weeks back is just another bloated spending bill that neither meets the nation's needs, nor practices fiscal responsibility. There were angry fists waving on both sides during its passage, yet it received bipartisan support. Ultimately, it failed to pass the Senate due to tensions in Minnesota and the funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The political tension would force that chamber to do something it would rather not. That is, separate the package into multiple bills focusing on individual funding allocations.

While they passed all but the DHS funding, the government shutdown will likely start and end in the same week. All of which could’ve been avoided if Congress were no longer allowed to pass the buck and then roll everything up into one bill that will always be filled to the brim with pork barrel spending and legal graft in nearly every section. What has become even more concerning is that measures that are buried deep and seldom discussed are meant to curb the rights and privacy of the American people. Bloated spending and bloated surveillance are beneficial to no one, regardless of their place in society. A lesson that is so often hard won and seldom understood for long.

As of January 30th, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion federal budget that covered most departments, including the Department of Defense, Labor, Education, and Transportation, to name a few. The funds appropriated, of course, won’t last a full year; they'll only last until September 30th. Then the process begins all over again. Congress hasn’t passed a budget on time since 1996, and it hasn’t passed a balanced budget since 2001. A clear pattern emerges quickly. For 30 years, both chambers have been passing the buck, and the American people have been left holding the bag. A prime example is that if the bills passed by the Senate are then confirmed by the House and sent to the president for signature, they will cover only 95% of the budget. Meaning there will still be more battles back and forth for weeks and possibly months to come before a full federal budget is passed. All of that energy and political capital will be spent on political ends, fighting that will have no positive outcomes.

The Senate failed to rein in the president's power to strike foreign countries at will. While many members of Congress on both sides are upset about the methods DHS is using to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants with and without criminal records, no legislation has been proposed to solve immigration issues. The debt, which must be mentioned as often as possible, exceeds 120% of GDP, and no legislation has been drafted or proposed to seriously address the issue. When there is no more political posturing left near the end of the year, Congress will pass a temporary budget as it has done for decades. The results will remain the same, and one day they won’t. The nations' creditors will come calling, regardless of the current administration and those that follow, if they are anything but cutting the federal budget and paying off the debt.

There is another issue, just as dangerous and disastrous as the Omnibus bill creates. Carve-outs and hidden amendments that quietly and slowly increase the reach of the government's regulatory and legal powers. One such amendment to the bill is the new, congressionally mandated ‘kill switch’ that automakers must install should the bill pass. There are those who would argue that the term sounds more ominous than it is. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth, and if anything, the term is too kind to the tyrannical power that law enforcement could soon wield. The intention is not to give law enforcement the power to turn off your vehicle at will, so its proponents argue. However, it's best to let the bill speak for itself.

“[T]o ensure the prevention of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology must be standard equipment in all new passenger motor vehicles.”

The bill goes on to highlight exactly what that means:

“passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle,” and  “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected.”

There is, of course, no reason to worry. As long as you’re driving correctly, nothing will happen, and the government only wants to ensure your safety and the safety of others. That is, unless the government has a long history of passing broadly defined legislation that allows it to spy on, monitor, and ultimately take away its citizens' freedoms without any cause beyond the fact that it feels like it. It is now a good time to read the Patriot Act and review its history and use. Senator Lindsey Graham, who voted for the Patriot Act and its reauthorizations, is among the senators who have recently learned the effects of that bill.

The saying goes that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The intentions of Congress will always be argued, especially by its members, to be nothing short of virtuous and only for the benefit of the nation. As America nears its 250th anniversary of independence, the nation has a long history to reflect on and determine its own virtues. Congress must be made to follow through on its duties and restrained in every attempt to be lazier than it already is. It is up to the citizens to reclaim the liberties that have been eroded and to demand that Congress do the job they are paid for and granted incredible privileges to carry out. There will always be hope for change so long as people want it. Now is not the time to abandon hope, but it is most assuredly the time to act and demand by the power of the ballot box that the nation's leaders act as such.