The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Congressional Oligarchy

12/27/22 Congress as an Oligarchy

Oligarchy—a political system governed by a few people—has become the norm in Congress for both political parties. The Senate and the House leaders have established a reward system of powerful committee chairpersons or ranking members being allocated to those who support their leadership. This upper level of the oligarchy controls all that occurs in Congress. The upper levels of this oligarchy craft all legislation with minimal input from the lower levels, and strict conformity on voting by the lower level ranks of this oligarchy is required. Much Congressional legislation is crafted by this upper level, and much of this crafting is done in secret. The only bipartisanship that occurs within Congress is the bipartisanship of the upper levels of each party’s oligarchy cooperating with each other to ram legislation through Congress. It is rare for important legislation to have amendments introduced and debated on the Senate or House floor, and even rarer for this important legislation to be crafted in open committee hearings. There appear to be no middle levels to this oligarchy, as a middle level could pose a challenge to the power of the upper level. It is reminiscent of the Backbenchers of a Parliament who are expected to remain silent and vote for whatever the political leadership proposes, and in this Congress is operating as the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union operated.

All of this is antithetical to a Democrat-Republic form of government where the voice of the people through their elective Representatives and Senators is given equal weight. In doing this, they are muting the voices of the American people who elected Representatives and Senators to challenge the status quo and chart a different course for America. They have also accrued power unto themselves to do as they see fit, regardless of the voice of the American people. This is one of the reasons that Congress is held in such low esteem by the American public, as the American people do not feel that their voices are being heard in Congress. It also has the repercussion of the American people being uninformed about the legislation so passed and the alternative solutions and possible unintended consequences of the legislation so passed. An ill-informed electorate is thus unable to make intelligent choices as to whom they should vote for in an election, and it is easier to create a Herd Mentality in the electorate for the election or reelection of members of Congress that support this oligarchy.

Congress needs a management structure to operate, but this structure should not be an oligarchy. Power needs to be shared amongst all the representatives of the American people to ensure that all the voices of the American people are heard. Until this occurs, we have constricted our Democrat-Republic form of government to the few and most powerful leaders of Congress. It is time to get back to what our Founding Fathers envisioned for the role of Congress—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon.

12/28/22 The Oligarchy Strikes Back

In my previous Chirp, I lamented the rise of an oligarchy in Congress. A perfect example of the operation of this Oligarchy is the last-minute passage of the 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion dollar 2022 omnibus spending bill. This bill, without Congressional crafting other than by the Oligarchy, is a monstrosity of spending that does not reflect the priorities of the American public, but it does illuminate the priorities of the Oligarchy. The impacts of this spending, both the intended and unintended consequences, were of little concern and no debate in Congress. It was a shameful act by the Oligarchy to impose their will upon the lower-level ranks of this Oligarchy and the American public in the passage of this bill.

This is not the way that our Founding Fathers meant Congress to operate—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon. In addition to the massive spending in this bill, there was little concern for the taxpayers who would have to pay for this spending. Taxes will go up, deficits will increase, and debts will be incurred, and we can expect that increased inflation and a possible recession will be the result of this spending. What is not mentioned is the moral depravity of burdening future generations with paying off these debts (after all, how many of us borrow money to raise our families and then expect our children to pay off these debts when they grow up?). To claim that we will outgrow these debts by the future expansion of the economy is a baseless claim, given how over the last several decades, we have not paid off these debts but increased them.

This oligarchical management of Congress needs to end, and power returned to all the Congressional representatives of the people. A power that should be utilized to rein in spending and taxing, as well as to pay off our debts by the people who have incurred them. If this Oligarchy is not ended, then we can expect important future legislation to be rammed through Congress by this Oligarchy and future massive spending, taxes, and debts to occur that could result in economic calamity for America.

12/29/22 They Like the Oligarchy

In my previous two Chirps, I lamented the rise of an oligarchy in Congress and the utilization of this oligarchy to ram important legislation through Congress. The question that many ask is why they perpetuate this oligarchy? The answer is—They Like It! It allows them to do things that many of the American people would object to by hiding these things within massive legislation that the lower-level members of the oligarchy and the American people cannot easily ferret out. By the time these things are discovered, the legislation has already passed, and it is very difficult for Congress to undo what they have done.

The things that they do often accrue power to themselves and the government at the expense of our “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”. After all, as it has been truthfully said, “The Bigger the Government, the Smaller the Citizen”. This oligarchy always passes legislation that increases the size and/or powers of government at the expense of the citizen. A size and power of the government that our Founding Fathers wished to rein in by limiting the government to enumerated powers. Enumerated powers that, over the last century, we have expanded by “Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning”, “Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors”,  “Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness”, and “The Perversion of the English Language”. This has been done with the tacit cooperation of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of government to expand their powers.

Little thought by this oligarchy has been given to the consequences of increased governmental powers and the impacts on our society of a big government. It is assumed that big government will operate for the benefit of Americans without examining the negative impacts on society of a big government. Almost never does this oligarchy consider the full range of impacts of any changes and additions of governmental powers. This lack of consideration can be classified into the tasks, processes, and systems within the governance of society. My next Chirp, “12/30/22 Tasks, Processes, and Systems”, examines what Congress and the American people should consider in all proposed legislation. Without this consideration, it is not possible to determine the consequences (both intended and unintended) of proposed legislation and its impacts on society.

12/30/22 Tasks, Processes, and Systems

Many Americans focus on the task of doing their jobs, which is part of a process within their place of employment, while the many processes within the business are part of the system that a company operates to achieve its goals. It is, therefore, proper to generalize that a multiple of individual coordinated tasks is a process, while multiple coordinated processes make up a system. So, it is within all systems in our universe—both natural systems and manmade systems. Therefore, a change, failure, or destruction of a task impacts the function of the process, which then impacts the viability of the system.

We have all heard the statement ‘ignoring the forest by focusing on the trees’, while giving little thought to its deeper meaning of not considering the Tasks, Processes, and Systems impacts of proposed changes or eliminations. Whenever someone proposes any change or elimination of a task or process, it will impact the system, and any changes or eliminations of tasks or processes often have negative and unintended consequences (as per my article "The Law of Unintended Consequences") on the system if you do not consider all the impacts of the changes or eliminations.

This lack of consideration of the impacts of changes to the Tasks and Processes on the impacts to the System is prevalent in Activists and Activism, Progressives/Leftists, and Democrat Party Leaders for the changes that they often propose. In their zeal to improve the world as they see necessary, they have not considered the negative and unintended consequences of their proposals on the Tasks, Processes, and Systems.

This lack of consideration of the impacts often occurs by not understanding our modern technological world, as I have written in my Article, "The Basis of Our Modern Technological World". It is also a lack of understanding of The Four E’s that are essential to understanding the total costs and impacts of any engineered system developed by humanity, as I have written in my Article, "The Four E’s (Energy, Economic, End-To-End, and Environmental)".

Activists and Activism, Progressives/Leftists, and Democrat Party Leaders often believe that they can change tasks and processes in America and that the impacts will be absorbed with only minor repercussions to the American system. This is a fatal flaw in their reasoning, as societal changes reverberate throughout society and often have negative repercussions on individuals, groups, and all Americans. These negative repercussions not only impact our society but often redounded to our economy in a negative manner.

One of the built-in features of our Constitution was to slow things down and provide for deliberative actions by the government, as our Founding Fathers understood that mob passions often led to bad laws and infringements on our Liberties and Freedoms.

Consequently, it is important for a deliberative examination of the impacts of changes and eliminations to the tasks and processes in America on the entire American system. We should, therefore, insist that our government deliberatively examine the impacts on the tasks, processes, and system for any actions that they propose. A rush to change without deliberative examination of these impacts gives truth to the saying, ‘Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.’ Those that wish to institute change without deliberative examination of the Tasks, Processes, and System impacts

12/31/22 In the Name of God, Go!

In Oliver Cromwell’s speech to the Rump Parliament of April 20, 1653, he had some choice words about the current state of Parliament:

“Ye are a factious crew, and enemies of all good government…Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there not one vice you do not possess?...Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God…Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You [who] were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed are yourselves become the greatest grievance…Go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves, be gone!...In the name of God, go!”

If Cromwell were here today to speak the same words to our Congress, which has become everything he said about the rump Parliament and worse, as every word he spoke also rings true about the Congress of the United States.

In the past several Chirps have dealt with the oligarchy that now exists within Congress and the negative impacts upon our society by the institution of this oligarchy. Not only is this oligarchy antithetical to what our Founding Fathers envisioned for the role of Congress—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon—but it has been detrimental to our society. It is, therefore, time to put an end this oligarchy.

However, ending this oligarchy is easier said than done. This oligarchy is an entrenched power that will not easily relinquish power. This oligarchy has not only corrupted the role of Congress, but it has corrupted the members of Congress. A corruption that permeates not only the upper levels of the oligarchy but also the lower levels of the oligarchy who support the upper levels of this oligarchy.

The easiest means to end this oligarchy is for the lower levels of the oligarchy to no longer elect the upper levels of the oligarchy. This is unlikely to happen as the lower levels of the oligarchy are often jockeying to become the upper levels of the oligarchy. Another means is for the voters of the upper levels of the oligarchy to not reelect these upper-level oligarchs to Congress. This is also unlikely to happen, as the upper-level oligarchs deliver the pork to their electorate in exchange for their votes. The best means to end this oligarchy is for the American electorate to become aware of the importance of Religion, Morality, Character, and Virtue in electing our leaders, as I have Chirped on “12/18/22 Legislating Virtue”, and vote for virtuous candidates who will end this oligarchy. Alas, the state of civic education in America is so poor that most Americans do not understand the importance of Religion, Morality, Character, and Virtue, which are essential for our “American Ideals and Ideas” and our “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All” to persevere.

History has shown that when an oligarchy becomes entrenched, it is almost impossible to dislodge. Usually, this dislodging is a result of the collapse of a society or a dislodging by a dictatorial or tyrannical leadership. This is best exemplified by the collapse of the Greek City-States and the Roman Republic, although it has happened to many other societies throughout history.

Let us hope that the American people become aware of this Congressional Oligarchy and understand the dangers of a Congressional Oligarchy. Let us also hope that they will be resilient enough to insist on the end of this oligarchy without a societal collapse or a replacement of the oligarchy by dictatorial or tyrannical leadership. I would also say to the oligarchy in Congress, ‘In the Name of God, Go!’ before ye do more harm to America.

01/05/23 The Messiness of Democracy

Democracy can be messy at times, and it should be messy at times! Democracy allows for the Natural Rights of freedom of thought and speech, religious freedoms, press freedoms, for people to peaceably assemble, and for the people to petition their government, which are all messy. Without Democracy, we become a people that are ruled rather than led. A rule that is instituted by either authoritarianism, autarchy, despotism, dictatorialness, monarchy, oligarchy, totalitarianism, or tyranny.

The finest example of this messiness is in the current election for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. While the Republicans have nominal control of the House (222 to 212, with 1 vacant seat), they are not in control of their own caucus. A group of dissident House Republicans, unsatisfied with the proposed leadership, have blocked the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. Their dissent is that in these troubled times, the American people require strong, effective leadership to counter the Democrat Party Leaders, the Biden Administration, and Progressives/Leftists from advancing their agenda.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has long been an accommodator and broker of deals with the Democrats to marginally advance the Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders agenda. He has also been skilled in playing the game of political jockeying to obtain power and control over the Republican caucus. The dissentient House Republicans believe that it is time to vigorously fight back against Democrat Party Leaders and the Biden Administration to right the course of America. These dissentient House Republicans do not believe that Kevin McCarthy is the proper person to lead this fight, as he is the ultimate representation of the oligarchic structure of Congress, as I have written in my Chirps that I coalesced into my article “Congressional Oligarchy”.

The arguments in favor of Kevin McCarthy are all about process and power in the House of Representatives. If someone has the power to control the process, then they have control over the activities of the House. They get to decide what and what not, when if whenever, who and who not, and other decisions as to the processes in the House. These decisions are rarely democratic (as could be seen by Speaker Pelosi’s autocratic rule), and they often are parochial and self-centered, and sometimes egocentric. We elect our Congresspersons to lead and not to follow, and all our Congresspersons should be leaders in Congress and not followers. As such, they should all be involved in the process and decision-making of what occurs in the House. This is not currently how the House works, as the Congressional Oligarchy controls the functioning of the House processes.

The dissentient House Republicans’ fight, therefore, is a fight against the Congressional Oligarchy. This is a fight that needs to be won if we are to replace this Oligarchy with Democracy. This is and will be a messy fight. Do not let the messiness distract you nor sap your will to engage in this fight, as the goal is to reinstitute democracy in the House of Representatives. A goal that is worthy of a messy fight! They are fighting for the will of the electorate to be democratically represented in the functioning of Congress rather than the will of the oligarchy to rule in Congress.

01/07/23 The Beginning of the End of the Oligarchy

With the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the beginning of the end to the Congressional Oligarchy has started. But it is only the beginning of the end, and more work remains to be done to ensure that the Congressional Oligarchy does not regain control. The changes wrought by the Republican dissidents need to be expanded and propagated throughout the functioning of the House of Representatives to ensure that Democracy, rather than Oligarchy, is the normal process within the House.

Those that bemoaned the ‘fractiousness’, the ‘unruliness’, the ‘discord’, the ‘disunity’, the ‘debacle’, and the other adjectives that were utilized to describe this dissidence and rebelliousness were the supporters of the Oligarchy and, as such, they were bemoaning Democracy. They are those that wish to be rulers rather than leaders in the House of Representatives, as I have explained in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders". We should all be wary of these Congresspersons, as they may not have fully accepted the end of the Congressional Oligarchy, and they may seek to reinstitute it. Such reinstitution should not be allowed to happen, even in the smallest part, as in Congress, the small often grows into the large, especially when power is involved.

Therefore, let us continue down this path to more Democracy in the House of Representatives, and let us next elect a Senate that will also end their Oligarchy, which would then reinstitute the Democratic process throughout Congress. Such a reinstitution of the Democratic process throughout Congress is necessary if we are to retain our "American Ideals and Ideas", which are essential to the preservation of our Liberties and Freedoms.