One way to save our Republic is to rein in our runaway bureaucracy.
In 2005 the federal government admitted to more than 100 federal agencies employing about 2.7 million civilian workers – or roughly 2-percent of the total U.S. workforce and that bureaucracy has grown.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/78xx/doc7874/03-15-Federal_Personnel.pdfThat does not include employees of the Postal Service (ROUGHLY 900,000 people – S.O.R editor) —who fill full-time permanent positions in the executive branch.
The CBO analysis goes on to state that that portion of the total federal workforce (2.7 million people) basically represents the government’s white-collar employees. Hourly workers, such as stenographers, secretaries, military personnel and congressional and senatorial staff are not counted in this study.
Nor are employees of a number of federal agencies such as:
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve,
The Central Intelligence and Defense Intelligence Agencies,
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency,
The national security agencies,
The White House and Office of the Vice President, the Postal Rate Commission,
The Tennessee Valley Authority;
Members of the Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps;
Employees who are paid with non-appropriated funds (for example, employees of the military exchange system, whose salaries are supported by revenues from sales) and foreign nationals overseas; and the legislative and judicial branches of government (except for the Government Printing Office), the U.S. Tax Court, and some selected commissions.
Two other groups of federal civilian workers—part-time and seasonal workers and trade, craft, and laboring employees who are paid under the Federal Wage System — are covered in a different report.
In other words, far more than 2.7 million people are employed by Uncle Sam and paid with funds provided by the taxpayers.
Our Founding Fathers, in declaring independence from Great Britain, noted that King George III had erected a bureaucracy which the colonists considered tyrannical. The following two quotes are directly from the Declaration…
“The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”So, the Founders threw out the British tyrants and over the years we, their heirs, have built our own tyrannical bureaucracy. Our modern bureaucracy starts at the local, county and state levels. These bureaucracies send out “swarms of officers to harass, us, fine us, regulate us, monitor us and are eating out our substance through taxation and duplication of services. Most, if not all states, have:
Departments of Health and Human Services
Departments of Hospitals
State Police
Tax revenue compliance officials
Departments of roads, bridges and highways
Driver’s license bureaus
State court systems
State veterans affairs offices
State Public Safety and Corrections bureau (state prisons)
National Guard units
Departments of social services
Department of Medicaid
Insurance commissioners
Voting commissioners
and the list goes on….
On the local and county level we have:
Building inspectors
Sheriff’s Departments
Police Departments
Fire Departments
Street and road maintenance workers
Zoning compliance officials
Tax assessors
Veteran’s affairs offices
Adoptive and foster parent services
Public health nurses and offices
County Courts and judges
City Courts and judges
Jails and correctional prisons
Medicaid offices
and the list goes on…
Don’t get me wrong, we need local and state control over our police agencies, prisons, courts and judges and fire departments and several others. We need good roads, sewage disposal, clean water and schools that aren’t falling down, plus, these departments and agencies are subject to local and/or statewide review and approval, unlike the federal bureaucracy and its swarms of nameless, faceless bureaucrats.
But the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy – of the federal government’s role in our lives – isn’t really apparent until one examines the federal government’s role beginning with the president’s cabinet.
President George Washington established the first cabinet which consisted of four people: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph “to advise and assist him in his duties.”
The president’s cabinet has expanded enormously through the years. Nearly all the cabinet level members have built substantial bureaucracies under their direction. I have shown a few under the broad headings below, just to give an idea of the size, scope and power of these often dictatorial agencies. I have also tried to call attention to some of the duplication of services such as Indian Affairs, justice and education. I also highlighted a few bureaus that address women’s issues. (Since when and by what constitutional authority do education and women’s issues that fall under federal jurisdiction?) I also felt it important to highlight parts of the massive federal land grab.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.htmlDepartment of Agriculture, Secretary Ed Schafer
www.usda.govHome Financing in Rural AreasCenter for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP)These are the folks who tell us what we should and shouldn’t eat.
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES)In partnership with land-grant universities, and other public and private organizations, CREES provides the focus to advance a
global system of extramural research, extension, and higher education in the food and agricultural sciences.
Forest Service (FS)Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR)The USDAs 2009 budget is $95 billion with 63% of that allocated to food giveaway programs.
USDA has a total of 18 sub-agencies.
Department of the Interior, Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
www.doi.govDOI Quick Facts
67,000 employees
Operating budget of $15.9 Billion
DOI manages 500 million acres of American land, roughly 20 percent of the total land area.
The U.S. Constitution Section 8, Clause 17 authorizes Congress: “To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings…”
But in 1849 Congress abdicated its constitutional responsibilities, effectively threw the Constitution in the trash and created The Department of the Interior and began the seizure of massive amounts of land which could and should be administered by the states.
Minerals Management Service
Bureau of Reclamation
8.7 million acres managed by the Bureau of Reclamation associated with reclamation projects.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
66 million acres managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (via the Bureau of Indian Education) provides education services to approximately 46,000 Indian children in 184 schools and dormitories
The Bureau manages relationships with 562 Indian tribes
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
96.4 million acres managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey
National Park Service
84.6 million acres managed by the National Park Service
Bureau of Land Management
261.7 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Office of Surface Mining
Department of Commerce, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
www.doc.gov
DOC Bureaus
Bureau of Industry and Security
Economics and Statistics Administration
Bureau of the Census
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Economic Development Administration
Minority Business Development Agency
National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Technical Information Service
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Patent and Trademark Office
Department of Justice, Attorney General Michael Mukasey
www.usdoj.gov
DOJ Bureaus and Agencies
58 total including:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Community Capacity Development Office (OJP) (includes Weed and Seed and American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk)
Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI
Federal Bureau of Prisons - BOP
Office of Tribal Justice
U.S. Marshals Service
Department of Justice 2009 Budget request $26.35 Billion.
Department of Defense, Secretary Robert M. Gates
http://www.defenselink.mil/
Department of the Army
Department of the Navy – including the Marine Corps.
Department of the Air Force
Defense-wide Agencies
2009 Budget request $515.4 Billion
Department of Labor, Secretary Elaine Chao
www.dol.gov
Bureaus, offices and agencies under DOL
32 including:
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
58 additional Directorates and offices are under OSHA
The Department of Labor has 16,848 employees with a 2009 budget request of $10.9 billion
Department of Education, Secretary Margaret Spellings
The Department of Education oversees 21 advisory committees including:
President's Board of Advisors on Tribal Colleges and UniversitiesNational Advisory Council on Indian Education
The Department of Education oversees 12 operational committees.
The Department of Education currently operates on a budget of $68.6 billion.
Department of State, Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Interesting comment from Secretary Rice:
Empowering Women To Work for Peace Secretary Rice (Mar. 6): "Where states do not or cannot ensure that their people have an opportunity to benefit from globalization, the results are troubling and often the victims are women. ...We in the international community should make sure that we hear the voices of women and account for their concerns whenever we seek to establish or to keep the peace. If we do that, we are actually making the job of keeping the peace easier."
Bureaus and Offices under the State Department
Deputy Secretary (D)
8 Departments
Bureaus and Offices:
50 total Bureaus and/or offices or agencies including:Women's Issues (WI)
Could not locate comprehensive State Department budget.
Department of Energy, Secretary Samuel W. Bodman
www.energy.gov
44 administrative areas, i.e. Undersecretaries, administrators of departments, offices, etc.
Department of Energy budget for 2009 is $25 billion.
Department of Transportation, Secretary Mary E. Peters
http://www.dot.gov/
12 Bureaus, boards and dozens of offices
Operating budget for 2009 of $68 billion.
Department of Health & Human Services, Secretary Michael O. Leavitt
http://www.whitehouse.gov/goodbye/bfb51c79338cc0acc0579d54986eb867274aefc0.html
14 Agencies including:
IHS - Indian Health Service
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Hillary Clinton’s proposed “Universal Health Care” has not been voted on or approved, yet DHH and several other agencies are pushing, pushing and pushing to ram this crap down our throats.
IMHO, we can knock their estimated 45 million uninsured Americans down to about 25 million by DEDUCTING the approximately 20 million ILLEGAL, NON-AMERICANS BEING COUNTED. Notice, they don’t tell you the source of the so-called “widely held aspiration in our nation.”
This is from the DHH website:
“Every American Insured
There is a widely held aspiration in our Nation that every American should have access to affordable health insurance.
According to recent estimates, nearly 45 million Americans lack health insurance coverage. It is time to set a goal that, within five years, every American has access to affordable insurance.
The government provides sustainable assistance for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. Federally-funded programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) are essential tools and will continue to help those in need. However, there is a real need to create a marketplace for affordable insurance beyond that provided through federal government assistance. Many states recognize the problem and are already working to reform health care.”
2008 Budget $8.8 billion for this TOTALLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL AGENCY.
Department of the Treasury, Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/goodbye/09ccc51137a3c315205f2bb4b2d57b8346293709.html1 Bureaus including:
The U. S. Mint and
The Internal Revenue Service
9 Offices
2009 Treasury Department budget is $12.9 billion with
$11.362 billion going to the IRS
Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Michael Chertoff
http://www.whitehouse.gov/goodbye/df1e1904fbc823d12f3fff238e830972c239b085.html16 separate components including:
FEMA and the
U.S. Coast Guard
$44,309,000 budget for 2009.
Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Dr. James Peake
http://www.whitehouse.gov/goodbye/c3f35a26e6ee60ac30cb24f1f42b3348c3002a7a.html23 offices, centers and administrations plus nearly
1,300 VA hospitals, clinics, mental clinics and other care facilities
2009 Budget request $94 Billion
Department of Housing & Urban Development, Secretary Alphonso Jackson
http://www.whitehouse.gov/goodbye/7275bb52afbca920399bf80a915132766478eecb.html164 Offices and agencies operating within HUD including:
Public and Indian Housing (PIH)Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
Field Operations Staff
Office of Policy, Program, and Legislative Initiatives
Grants Management Center
Office of Administration and Budget/Chief Financial Officer
Section 8 Financial Management Center
2009 HUD budget is $38.5 billion.
Folks, it goes on and on. As if the mind-boggling array and multiple levels of bureaucracy shown above isn’t enough, President Bush has awarded Cabinet-level rank to:
Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Stephen Johnson
