DOGE And The Devolution Of Power
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ValueSide
 March 15 2025
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    Early American farmer.

     

    The United States was founded upon the principle of limited Government, the concept that no power or authority should have absolute control over its citizens. This is often seen in our tripartite division of the President, Congress, and the Courts. However, the division of power between the Federal Government in Washington and the various state governments is equally essential.

    Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution spells out the limits of the Federal Government and explicitly reserves all other government powers to the States. Unfortunately, we've witnessed the concentration of power in the Federal Government in Washington for over two centuries. With each national crisis, a major war, a pandemic such as COVID-19, or a natural disaster, we've called upon Washington for aid.

    This concentration of power and authority along the Potomac has had predictable results in excess and occasional corruption. Day by day, DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) has systematically revealed just how far the Central Government has strayed.

    We've all been transfixed by the stunning revelations coming from the DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) investigations of Government: millions spent on sketchy social projects, billions sent to foreign news organizations to influence their coverage, and Social Security checks mailed to long-dead recipients. The list of systemic corruption grows by the day.

    There can be little doubt that there has been a nearly endless amount of corruption at the heart of much of our Federal Government's finances, costing American Taxpayers trillions.

    Americans are outraged, and justifiably so. As a country, we cannot allow this kind of malfeasance from those in office. Beyond the moral outrage, there is the realization that the nation cannot afford these expenditures. There's a reason we're trillions in debt, and, at least partly, that's because the Government and its agencies have wasted our money.

    Today, the focus is on the crime, petty theft, and massive fraud at the heart of this financial debacle. For most of us, the size and scope of the funds involved have shocked us all. Many of the people I've spoken with are calling for the prosecutions of those involved. "Someone must be held accountable," they say. And they're right; laws have been broken, crimes committed, and the guilty must pay.

    However, we cannot stop there. There are fundamental issues that go beyond personal corruption—issues that our country's founders understood but that have been ignored or shunted aside over the decades.

    Unfortunately, before I can mention those issues, the conversation usually veers into a recitation of: "Well, we live in a democracy, and so we get the leaders that we vote for and deserve. After all, 'elections have consequences.'"For many, perhaps most Americans, America is a democracy, and if there are "crooks" in Government, it's because we elected them. Somehow, the perfidy on display is the fault of "we the people." It all comes down to the voters. Elect the "right" person, and all will be well.

    Regrettably, this is just the sort of thinking that leads to the election of the benevolent dictator, the "right" person to lead a country. Throughout history, every tyrant has sought to portray themselves as morally upright when the reality is usually the opposite. The United States was founded precisely to oppose just such a monarch, George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland.

    However, in establishing America's Government, the founders saw the issue less with personality than with power. In the words of Lord Acton, it was power that "tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

    While that's the quote most often cited, Acton's complete quote goes on to say:

    "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority."

    https://www.acton.org/research/lord-acton-quote-archive

    Here, Acton is telling us that not only power but the addition of a moral component (yielding 'authority') produces "almost always" corruption. This is precisely what DOGE has revealed. Heads of US Government Agencies, Departments, and Regulators have crossed the line, exercising powers they did not have and becoming corrupt. Just how corrupt we'll undoubtedly find out in the weeks and months ahead as DOGE continues its investigation.

    Regrettably, this sort of corruption is just what our Federal System of Government was designed to prevent.

    If you enjoyed this article, please consider buying me coffee.

    Go to:

    https://buymeacoffee.com/davidreavill

    Thanks for reading!

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