Progressive Left Seeks To Take Power Away From The People

Two Democrats have come out against elected government in the last few days. North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue actually suggested suspending Congressional elections so that Congress can fix the economy. The North Carolina Democrat claims to have been joking but the tone of her voice and the fact that no one laughed suggests she was serious. Former Obama staffer Peter Orszag has taken it a step further. He doesn’t oppose elections but he does want to take the job of governing away from elected officials. Of the two Orszag’s position is the most dangerous.

Governor Perdue’s comments have drawn opposition from throughout the Republican Party. A good number of Democrats have distanced themselves from her. Mrs. Perdue’s claim that she’s joking is just not believable. In a republican government such as the Federal government, it is outrageous to suggest suspending elections. Our nation has never suspended elections, even during civil war and other times of national crisis. Elections have always been held because we are a nation governed by the people.

Elections aren’t going to be suspended because the American people (and the military I suspect) aren’t going to stand for it. So Gov. Perdue’s suggestion can be criticized and generally ignored as a non-starter. It’s Orszag’s position that is more dangerous because it’s more likely to be pushed for by Democrats. Orszag suggests we have too much ‘democracy.’ He suggests that the job of governing should shift away from elected officials towards unelected commissions and “automatic policies.” This is the sort of thing already being pushed for by the Obama administration. In fact, it’s what a lot of Obamacare is made up of: Unelected commissions that will decide how your healthcare will be administered.

The United States already has a number of unelected commissions that are able to create policy without oversight from Congress or elected officials. The best example of this though isn’t here in the US, it’s at the European Union. The EU is largely made up of bureaucrats who set policy for the entire Continent. The people don’t have any direct say in EU policy, it is simply dictated to them from on high. This seems to be what Orszag really wants. It fits in with the socialist mindset of the progressive left. If they cannot win the hearts of the people, they’ll force socialism though commission and declaration.

Orszag would be easy to dismiss if we only looked at the sour grapes aspect of his argument. Now that the Republicans control the House, there’s gridlock and the progressive agenda is mostly dead on arrival. It’s no surprise that the progressive left isn’t happy about that. Interestingly Congress and ‘democracy’ are great according to these people when the progressive left is in control. When they fall out of control Congress becomes a threat that’s destroying our government. Orszag shouldn’t be dismissed as a sour grapes liberal though. His position is serious and it is dangerous because it takes governing away from the people.

The progressives aren’t fools. They know that one day Obama will be out of power and eventually a Republican will be back in the White House. This is why Obamacare in particular included so many unelected boards that would create American healthcare policy. Most of the decisions these boards make aren’t reviewable by the courts and they can only be overturned by a 2/3 majority in Congress according to the Obamacare legislation. For this reason Orszag cannot be dismissed. He isn’t talking in a sour grapes fashion, he’s talking about serious policies that the Obama administration has already backed and signed into law.

The progressive left wants you and I to have less say over government policy. We’re ‘dangerous’ and obstructing to their goal of turning American into a socialist nation. The want to limit the power of the people by limiting the power given to Congress by the Constitution. In fact, not only do they want to limit Congressional power, they even want to limit Presidential power. After all, the President has little say in the decisions these unelected Commissions reach. The progressive left wants to move the country when the country does not wish to be moved left. They’ll try it via elections and if they can’t win elections they’ll write laws that take power away from the people and place that power in the hands of unelected liberal bureaucrats. The left is being very open about this, why aren’t more people paying attention?