At some point in an elementary school career every student will be asked to pick a President of the United States to emulate and prepare a report to present in front of the class. It’s a pretty good bet there will be a lot of George Washingtons and Abraham Lincolns.
It is doubtful any of the kids would select Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States and last to not serve a complete elective term. Mr. Nixon had a problem with the truth. He also believed that the U.S. Constitution was merely a suggestion of behavior.
Mr. Nixon likewise wasn’t thrilled with the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act which prevents a president from not spending money that had been appropriated by Congress, and which protects the separation of powers. He had some issues with what Congress had chosen to fund, even though he signed the budget bill.
Controlling the money is controlling the power.
A power grab is exactly what happened this week when the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memo with no warning ordering a freeze on all federal spending on roughly $3 trillion in financial assistance. The memo caused an international panic. Medicaid systems went down in all 50 states, programs such as Meals on Wheels, Veterans Administration hospitals and international aid such as HIV medications were ordered to “pause.”
A federal judge thankfully paused the pause. The uproar was so loud and punishing that the memo was pulled. That’s important verbiage. The memo was pulled, not the concept it contained.
This is not over. The administration is pushing to see how far it can stray from the U.S. Constitution to consolidate power into the executive branch. Chaos is the roadmap to the concepts in the infamous Project 2025 which is a blueprint for abandoning Americans who most need the government’s help.
This type of mean spiritedness is unbecoming of a government. Remember, this administration has been demanding an increase in the federal debt limit. There is no doubt that at least part of this was intended to be a bargaining chip.
Make no mistake. These concepts will be revisited in language buried in other crucial legislation, such as funding disaster relief, Head Start programs and healthcare for senior citizens. The evisceration of federal spending on social issues will push nonprofit service providers out of business, putting tens of thousands, perhaps millions of employees out of work. The unemployment rate will probably jump at least 2 percentage points.
The nonprofit sector stood tall in getting the restraining order that resulted in the memo rescinded. It is only a start.
The following call to action has previously been made here. Leaders of organizations such as the YMCA of the USA, United Way Worldwide, the American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and the Salvation Army need to hit the streets.
These organizations have footholds in literally every community in the nation. These nonprofit service providers know their communities. They can show how less expensive it is to keep a family in their apartment than providing services when they are on the street. They can prove that it is much more economical to keep someone healthy than to provide medical services.
You could argue those points but this freeze on federal spending was about power not economics. So, power they should face.
The midterm elections are less than two years away and campaigning will start in less than 15 months. While leaders of 501(c)(3) organizations can’t openly campaign against an individual, they can showcase services that are being withheld or eradicated. They can also urge voting participation — without a specific endorsement — by the vulnerable people they serve.
Political figures can’t please everyone, but they sure can fire-up opposition by making decisions that will negatively impact every community in the nation.
America is a land of opportunity. A democracy should ensure just a few essentials, food, housing, healthcare care for those who can’t do for themselves. These past 51 years have not quelled the animus most Americans still harbor for Nixon and what he tried to do. Members of this administration must look into a mirror and ask if they want the same fate.
No kid wants to illustrate the impeachable qualities of Richard Nixon.
