Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Mrs. Devra Parker
Clutter in Washington
Alex Salava
12th
Would you be happy if you found out that your tax money was going to a man that just sat in his office doing nothing in Washington? That just might be the case. Americans are joining together insisting that something be done about it. Many states have already gone through their state’s different agencies and programs, an idea this great nation should look at adopting.
This revamping process is referred to as the Sunset Legislation. Thirty-sevenn states have enacted this since 1976. The idea behind Sunset Legislation is to get rid of or make administrative and structural changes to any state or federal agencies that are acting as dead weight. This inefficiency is the result of creating agencies long ago in our nation’s past, and there might not even be a need for them anymore. Sunset Legislation will require these programs to prove that they are worthy of taxpayer’s money.
The Sunset Legislation provides many positive contributions to the United States. Among these is the ability to slow down our nation’s great debt and get rid of useless jobs that contribute to the national debt. President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this Earth is a government program.” Fixing the debt is very important to the common American because our nation is usually very happy when our pockets are full of money.
As
of
October
2006,
this
nation’s
debt
was
at
8.547
trillion
dollars
and
uncontrollably
growing.
Sunset
Legislation
is
not
going
to
pay
any
of
that
back,
but
the
idea
of
it
is
to
slow
down
the
growth
of
our
debt.
The
debt
cannot
just
keep
being
passed
onto
the
future
generations.
It
is
feared
that
the
debt
is
going
to
be
too
big
to
ever
be
paid
off,
and
the
sad
part
is,
it
might
already
be
too
late.
…
How many people would enjoy the fact that they are paying tax dollars for someone to actually sit in his office to twiddle his thumbs? It is not pleasant knowing that the government is still providing jobs that fulfilled the needs of past generations and we no longer have these same needs. Entertainer Bob Hope was once quoted for saying, “There is nothing so permanent as a temporary job in Washington.”
Although there are not many set backs to the Sunset Legislation, I do fear one…repercussion: Suppose our country was not in any serious threat of being attacked by another country and we were not at war anywhere else in the world. So the government decides that there is not a reasonable basis to keep our military. Do you feel safe knowing that the government would have to start all over again to build up an armed force if we were attacked? The same scenario can be taken with federal and state agencies that have no need in today’s society. There might not be a need for them now, but what if the need for them arises again? It would be comforting to know that our country already has an agency set up and ready to deal with an urgent situation as soon as possible.
I feel that this one set back and any other set backs are greatly outweighed by all of the positives that are gained by this idea. The Sunset Legislation will provide a way for the rest of the country to weed out any useless programs and agencies. These hindrances are only restraining our government’s ability to fix our debt problem. The presence for these programs and agencies might be required again in the future, but I trust that the Congressman are familiar enough with America’s needs and will make the right decision when deciding the outcome of a particular agency.
It also occurs to me that the Sunset Legislature has the slim chance that it will not cut spending at all. But that does not mean there has not been any good to come out of it. Now the agencies will be pushed to find the best way they can do their job that will benefit the United States to the fullest. The fear of losing their jobs will stimulate them to work harder.
I don’t think we will ever stop hearing about the Sunset Legislature until it has been accepted by Congress. It is just too important to our nation’s future to ignore such a gift. If we don’t do anything about it today, when will it get dealt with? The best way to join a new American promise is to recognize programs that will change lives. Sunset Legislation will clean out all of the wasteful clutter built up in Washington.
Answers
To
Questions
Prompted
By
The
Required
Reading
Q1- What was the average life span in Jefferson’s age according to his letter?
A1-The average lifetime was at 51 years old.
Q2- Do some research and find out the size of the national debt you are about to inherit as taxpayers. Don’t forget the benefits promised in your name to the older generations under the guise of Social Security and Medicare.
A2- The current national debt at 8:26 PM was $8,552,299,483,299.38 on October 16, 2006.
Q3-What do you think of Jefferson’s assertion that “…no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.”
A3- I agree with Jefferson, because if we could not pay our own debts then there will always be a growing debt. Some may think this isn’t true in co ordinance to the national debt, but other countries are gaining wealth to even the debt out.
Is it feasible to undue the social contracts in your children or grandchildren’s life times? Would you want to even if you could? Why or why not.
- I think it is feasible, because I don’t know what the future will bring me. I may find a great job or win the lottery, which in turn gives me the option to pay the debts of my posterity or keep the money for myself. I most likely would pay the debts because I would want my father or grandfather to pay their debts.
Q4- Do you agree, as Jefferson maintained, that “[debt] between society and society, or generation and generation, there is no municipal obligation, no umpire but the law of nature. We seem not to have perceived that, by the law of nature, one generation is to another as one independent nation to another.”
A4- I have the same opinion on this point of view. I think it is important to pay back our debts, because it would not be to our nations benefit to pass on our debts to our upcoming generations. I think that most people understand this so they try to do their best not to leave any debts behind.
Q5- In view of Jefferson’s words that follow, why do you think a sunset provision on generational debt wasn’t included in the U.S. Constitution?
“But with respect to future debts, would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare, in the constitution they are forming, that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself, can validly contract more debt than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19. years? And that all future contracts will be deemed void as to what shall remain unpaid at the end of 19. years from their date? This would put the lenders, and the borrowers also, on their guard.”
A5- The framers thought about the future of this country quiet a bit. It would be imposable to think of everything that our country will come up against, so for them not to include anything like the sunset legislation would be understood. They had no reason to have it during that time.
Q6- What do you say to Jefferson’s assertion that “a law of limited duration is much more manageable than one which needs a repeal.” ?
A6- I agree with this statement. If there is already a specific time or schedule for a law to be changed or abolish, it is easier to do so. The law can still help individuals even if it might not be benefiting the nation as a whole. If the law did not have limited duration, an individual will have a better chance to fight for the law to stay as it is.
Q7- “We have already given in example one effectual check to the Dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body, from those who are to spend to those who are to pay.”
A7- War is very expensive and this is why I agree with Jefferson when he says that congress should be the branch of government to declare war. The legislature is in charge of our money. The get almost all their money from taxes in which they are in control of as well.
Q8- In light of the excerpt from his letter above, what do you think Thomas Jefferson would make of our nation’s recent history of fighting undeclared wars?
A8- Jefferson’s administration launched acts of war while he was in office so I think that he would support our actions, such as bombing, towards terrorist supporting countries.
Q9- Name ten of the twenty-six states that have enacted sunset legislation.
A9- The following states enacted sunset legislation: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, and Texas.
Q10- What state abolished all state government? What do you think the voters got for their trouble?
A10- West Virginia tried to get rid of all of its states government, but the governor vetoed the bill.
Q11- What good do attempts at enacting Sunset legislation achieve even when the laws are not enacted?
A11- The more attempts at enacting the Sunset Legislation, the more people will hear about it. If people keep pushing the subject then more and more support will keep building for it.