Halfway through 2015 already, and the stunning lack of oversight for increasing lawlessness remains unchanged - and it's arguably even more rampant. It is hard to fathom how the children of the '60s and '70s - the ones who objected loudly enough to end the Vietnam War, who forced the resignation of a president, and who history will show as the last generation that exceeded the standard of living of their parents - are the primary culprits in this devolution of the rule of law.
We have mostly fossils running the travesty that is government partnering with monster corporations - the industry leaders who control all aspects of infrastructure manufacturing, as well as primary services such as finance, health care, insurance, academia, and media, thereby virtually eliminating meaningful competition in America.
Americans need to admit that capitalism is no longer the economic model here, and hasn't been for decades. Capitalism depends on competition to succeed as an economic model first and foremost. Once government enters the arena with legislation and regulations that favor certain corporations and enterprises over others, capitalism is corrupted and morphs into something else. The better descriptor is fascism, where a small percentage of private-sector interests own, but government controls, most of a nation's resources. Socialism differs only in the ownership, leaving government owning and controlling those resources.
America is fast departing from its founding governing principles as a republic under the rule of law with a free-market capitalistic economic model as its underpinning. Administrative law is the largest contributor to this erosion, providing a massive set of rules and regulations administered by the executive branch at the federal and state levels, with counties mostly responsible for local implementation, to enforce broad legislation that is rarely read by the legislators who approve it. This behemoth of an unaccountable governing apparatus, no longer able to justify itself by any measure as representative of the people, derives its authority under a different primary directive altogether - known as "continuity of government."
The sheer disproportion of the executive branch to the legislative and judicial branches is proof of the gross imbalance of the U.S. governing bureaucracy, whose agencies' executive-management teams, in many cases, are insiders from the very monster corporations they are tasked with overseeing. For example, Michael Taylor, the past vice president of public policy for Monsanto, is currently the deputy commissioner for foods at the Food & Drug Administration, a position created especially for him. He also worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for several years, in between his revolving employment at Monsanto and the federal government. Taylor is also a professor at the University of Maryland and a senior fellow at the think tank Resources for the Future, where he published two documents funded by the Rockefeller Center. (See RCReader.com/y/immunity1.) These connections are not meaningless. More importantly, there are many employed in government, just like Taylor, with one foot in the monster corporations, academia, and/or finance-based foundations, all of whom serve the interests of a select few over those of American taxpayers who pay the high salaries of these bureaucrats.
Consider that in 2014 the executive branch alone employed 2.6 million people, while the legislative and judicial branches combined employed only 63,000 (RCReader.com/y/immunity2). There is no conceivable way that Congress or the judiciary can provide adequate oversight. Watch any hearing taking place on the Hill (currently or archived) to observe the shocking ineffectiveness of congressional committees. The contempt in which the bureaucrats hold the politicians is glaring. Whether monsters or morons, these agency personnel obstruct at every turn via all manner of administrative obfuscation, including ignoring subpoenas. This deliberate, across-agencies unresponsiveness routinely occurs with the full blessing of the Department of Justice, whose job it is to prosecute the lawlessness of these flagrant acts, yet it refuses to act.
June 2015 congressional hearings exposed billions in health-care-for-veterans contracts issued illegally because they are out of compliance with procedural requirements for letting. There is not a hint of denial by any of these agencies' leaders, just a pervasive remorselessness that equates to these bureaucrats giving taxpayers the proverbial finger. How is it that these persons can break rules with impunity, not even losing their jobs?
Two huge cyber-hacks into the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) database, compromising millions of federal-employee records, occurred due to inadequate vetting of contractors, who used subcontractors located in China. To correct these security problems, within 48 hours of issuing a Request For Proposal, OPM let a new contract to a contractor who is under investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission for securities fraud involving millions of dollars. When one of the OPM managers was asked how many of her 250-plus employees were foreign nationals, she could not answer the question. This degree of incompetence is not only inexcusable; it is potentially dangerous to national security. (See RCReader.com/y/immunity3.)
Could it be that administrative statutes are enforceable at will, and not compulsory? It would appear so. Or is it just administrative policy to look the other way, regardless of political-party affiliation? This administrative modus operandi has been occurring for decades, with the cooperation of Congress and the judiciary. In fact, the courts are arguably the most active contributors to this broken system of rules for them and rules for us. Administrative rules and regulations have little to do with justice or safety, and everything to do with creating revenue streams for the various government factions. Sadly, most of that revenue is coerced from those with few resources to resist the egregious prosecutions and takings (asset forfeiture, fines, attorney fees, court costs, prison costs, etc.). Worse is that this poisonous governance infects residents at every level, including states, counties, and municipalities. Asset forfeiture is taking a front seat in gross state and federal corruption due to government agencies' increasing reliance on the revenue it produces, and the inherent conflicts of interest that abound with this unholy practice. (See RCReader.com/y/jury4.)
Because the media is utterly complicit in providing cover for bureaucracies and monster corporations, the way we learn about much of the malfeasance is through the courage of whistleblowers. So what does it say about our society when we remain silent while these whistleblowers - who often risk everything, including their lives - to inform the public of wrongdoing suffer the wrath of the culprits they expose? Not only do the whistleblowers often incur devastating personal financial consequences, but they are prosecuted as the criminals! "Evil prevails when good men do nothing" is exactly right.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and judges enjoy a perversion in law known as prosecutorial immunity. This absurd judge-made protection for public-sector attorneys and judges is a huge contributor to the mass incarceration that exists in America. Prosecutors, who also act as gatekeepers and investigators, cannot be sued for all manner of malicious prosecution, even if such prosecution causes severe harm to an innocent defendant, including long-term incarceration and/or death. Not only are these bad actors immune, but they are often rewarded for their destructive conduct with better-paying jobs and fast-tracked career paths - all due to a high number of convictions, regardless if evidence was manufactured or exculpatory evidence withheld. (See RCReader.com/y/immunity4 and RCReader.com/y/immunity5.)
This special protection for attorneys and judges prosecuting and adjudicating everyone's crimes but their own only confirms the rules-for-them/rules-for-us dichotomy. Such practices defy every core value we hold as Americans, let alone human beings. We must set these policies and laws right by seeing them undone with relentless civic activism that is nonnegotiable. Otherwise, we become a bankrupt people, not just socially and economically but also morally and spiritually. So inquiring minds want to know: What would you suggest we do?
