Smart Girls Politics

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently bemoaned the "alarming degree of public ignorance" regarding civics and it was never more apparent as during the recent partial (17%) government shutdown. I'm increasingly of the opinion that this ignorance is achieved by design so that the political elites, particularly those on the left, can manipulate public opinion and voters to their benefit.

I keep hearing, "You lost the election so get over it." Well, yes and no. Conservatives did lose the White House and failed to win majority in the Senate, but we did retain control of the House of Representatives. The House, by virtue of our

Constitution, Article One Section 7, is given the power of the purse strings to control spending. It is part of the marvelous system of checks and balances to ensure that the other branches of government do not exceed authority, a system that has distinguished our nation from others and why so many citizens are alarmed at its erosion.

As Rush Limbaugh so aptly commented, when has losing an election ever stopped Democrats from pushing back and obstructing Republican policy? Never. And I note that whenever the left obstructs, their battle cry is always that they are

fighting to "save our democracy," the biggest fallacy used by the liberal statists to manipulate public opinion because our Founders did not create a democracy but rather a constitutional republic designed to protect the rights of the individual as well as those in the minority from mob rule.

And it certainly feels as if mob rule is in force these days, especially as it relates to the demands for irresponsible government spending.

Big government politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to allow the federal government to spend money at a frightening pace, money we can ill afford to spend and quite frankly do not even possess.

Since our tax dollars do not provide enough revenue to cover our monthly deficit spending, the Federal Reserve "buys" approximately $85 billion per month in U.S. Treasuries with simply a journal entry to cover the difference - no check is ever written to the U.S. Treasury for the purchase. But the Treasury acts as if they actually receive the “money” and proceed to send out government benefits in the form of food stamps, disability income, Social Security (there is no lock box), Obamaphones, school lunch programs, the WIC program, Section 8 housing, farm subsidies, city and state grants, corporate welfare, foreign aid, etc., and the list grows longer with each new government program.

In reality, the bulk of actual money flowing to the Treasury is our tax dollars. The journal entry transactions are the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time, an illusion which expands the money supply and is a precursor to inflation.

All of this debt will eventually lead to our dollar losing its status as the leader of recognized world currency. Once that happens, all these government programs will grind to a halt as the Fed won't be able to print our way out of the situation. Sorry folks, but Santa Claus is actually broke.

So now the partial shutdown is over, the debt limit has yet again been raised, and the blame game is on for the D.C. dysfunction with the finger-pointing, handwringing, and outright vicious assaults fully targeted on Sen. Ted Cruz. As one who cheered his endeavor to educate Americans and the elected political elites on the economic dangers of Obamacare, I recognize I am no expert in political maneuvering or strategy, and, as the pundits continue to remind us, perhaps Sen. Ted Cruz' effort was destined to fail, but, he at least attempted SOMETHING more than empty campaign promises. What I do know is that there are millions of Americans who are sick and tired of having more and more government shoved down our throats at the expense of those who work hard and live within their means.

So I ask: Is the dysfunction in DC really created by Sen. Ted Cruz as so many accuse, or by the irresponsible spending and crushing debt that he, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Rand Paul, Sarah Palin and others are calling out?

Marcia Chambliss is the Alabama State Coordinator of Smart Girl Politics, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the education and training of activists and candidates, and Smart Girl Politics Action, http://sgpaction.com/, a 501(c)(4) which focuses on conservative issues. She can be reached at Marcia@sgpaction.com. Her views do not

necessarily reflect the opinions of Smart Girl Politics

Action.