A Republic If You Can Keep It

By Kendra Lizama
OCPA Intern

After the Constitution was signed at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin the following question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin’s reply: “A republic, if you can keep it.” It is important to note that Franklin did not say democracy. The word “democracy” does not appear in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. The Founders established a republic. However, current leaders are abundantly using “democracy” to describe our government. The Founders feared a democracy.

The Founding Fathers expressed their opinions of democracies:

“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security and the rights of property, and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. “ James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 10

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”  John Adams

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” Benjamin Franklin

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” Thomas Jefferson

Despite the Founders’ criticisms, we constantly hear “democracy” used to describe our government. Recently, President Obama speaking at the University of Michigan said that “the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. It is essential for our democracy.” Former Governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry said “reading builds the educated and informed electorate so vital to our democracy.” It is obvious that current leaders are confused about what type of government the Founders wanted us to have.  Not only is this confusion of terms dangerous to the liberties of American citizens, but it is also perilous to those who look at America as a model as a fair and free society.

The Founders chose a republic because it guarantees to protect individual rights from tyranny, regardless of whether the tyrant was a king, a monarchy, a congress, or an unelected mob. A republic protects every individual not just a group. A republic does not allow any law that does not apply to all citizens equally. I am concerned that we will lose freedoms if we continue to let “democracy” and “republic” become interchangeable terms. The Founders were clear about the perils of democracy, and gave us a republic to protect us from one.

Compromise? Looking at the Debt Deal

By Todd Shaw

OCPA Intern

The various public reactions to Obama & Boehner’s recent debt ceiling fix come as no surprise. Despite no program or agency terminations being identified, critics brood over a deal that will allegedly cut entitlement programs and higher-education subsidies. In addition, assorted media continue to fulfill their role as sentinels for Washington, lauding the “historic” deal that will “cut” and “slash” federal spending by over $2 trillion in ten years.

But as Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute indicates, federal spending won’t be cut at all:

Spending isn’t being cut at all.  The “cuts” in the deal are only cuts from the [Congressional Budget Office] “baseline,” which is a Washington construct of ever-rising spending. And even these “cuts” from the baseline include $156 billion of interest savings, which are imaginary because the underlying cuts are imaginary.

As Boehner commends a deal that cuts discretionary spending (government spending via appropriation) by $917 billion over 10 years, he seems to have looked past an important figure. The actual discretionary spending cap will rise by $191 billion within the next decade, at an average increase of $21.2 billion/year. Despite a sizable discretionary cap of $1,234 billion by 2021, the restrictions won’t apply to “program integrity initiatives,” “overseas contingency operations,” and other federal programs (see the Director of the CBO’s comments here). Congressional approval of these new bipartisan discretionary spending benchmarks will result in a net result that will increase discretionary spending.

It seems as though the journalists, pundits, and politicians have also missed the $1 trillion of new deficits that will materialize next year alone. As Washington calls the deal a compromise, supporters of free markets and limited government will continue to see resources shift from the private sector to the public sector. This week’s deal distorts the reality that the state will continue to extend itself well into the private sphere.