E-Newsletter No. 121 January 2024
What is “the Administrative State”? The simple textbook answer is – – The Administrative State is part of the Executive Branch and is comprised of the various agencies that have been established to perform the functions of the federal government. It is oftentimes referred to as the “Fourth Branch” of the government. On our website, we have an original Conversation Piece from October 2013 that lists those various agencies.
What-The-Government-Should-and-Should-Not-Do.pdf (f2ppr.org)
Set aside for a moment that the annual spending amounts shown in that Conversation Piece are from ten years ago, along with the fact that the current annual deficit amount is now a multiple of what it was back then. We also need to momentarily set aside the issue that most of these departments and agencies are a violation of the Tenth Amendment, and this spending and the resulting deficit that arises is a direct result of the “progressive” movement.
You will notice that at the top of the list is the Social Security Administration, which is a socialist concept that if left unaltered will eventually lead to the financial ruin of future generations. Back in October 2013, we indicated that if the functions of several of these “non-constitutional” agencies were to be handled by the states and civil society groups, the spending of the federal government could be reduced by over 48 percent. And that reduction didn’t even include any cuts for Social Security, which we subsequently addressed a few years later in The 2020 Initiative. We recommend slowly systematically transforming the Social Security program into a means-tested welfare benefit.
In conservative circles, the Administrative State is oftentimes referred to as The Swamp, rife with all sorts of fraud and abuse. In its most corrupt state, it is also referred to as The Deep State – – agencies run by unelected bureaucrats with their own self-interests, with no accountability, and pursuing their own (oftentimes hidden) objectives, rather than providing for the general welfare of the country as a whole. In recent years, one of the most troubling aspects of The Deep State is how those agencies are being weaponized against We-The-People. That is the topic for next month’s newsletter.
US Debt Clock – – December 1st – $100,710 per citizen / January 1st – $101,230