Issue 37 Evolving the Treasury March 20,2013

Getting our fiscal house in order is going to take effort and a centralized body that can monitor the Federal Governments fiancés can help us do that.

Evolving the Treasury

            The United States Treasury is one of the most important institutions of the Federal government.  All money the Federal government collects in taxes comes here.  However, the other Federal agencies are acquiring powers and abilities that belong to the Treasury department, such as making loans to foreign countries and private concerns without Congressional approval.  One example of this is Solyndra, the solar panel company that the EPA loaned money to that went bankrupt.  It is time the Treasury took its power back.

            The treasury is already responsible for tax collection and accounting for that money.  It also has an auditing function, but it is not the only agency in the Federal government with the power to audit other Federal institutions.  Thus, all Federal level auditing agencies and departments should be merged into the United States Treasuries Auditing department or eliminated.  This will make the U.S. Treasury the sole auditor of the entire Federal bureaucracy.

            Any and all payroll of government officials should be done exclusively by the U.S. Treasury and their salaries and benefits published for all the American public to see.  For the sake of transparency everything the government spends on should be accounted for and published all in one central location.  The other Federal agencies will have to request the Treasury to buy their equipment and resources for them.  Included in the request will be a justification of why that department or agency is procuring that particular piece of equipment or resource, and the Treasury will approve or disapprove the request based on strict criteria given to them by Congress.  This will prevent agencies like the EPA and Homeland Security from buying televisions, comics to promote their existence and the like from occurring and wasting tax payer money.

            I would add to the Treasury a unified human resources department.  Here the Treasury will receive a request and justification for a position to be filled in another department or agency.  That same agency making the request will also send strict requirements that the new hire must meet to be approved. Then the Treasuries human resources division will vet the candidates and narrow down the qualified applicants to two or three people per position that needs to be filled.  The final decision to hire which applicant will be left to the requesting agency.  In this role the Treasury aids in removing any sort of corruption in the hiring process and ensures that, like agencies expenditures, costs are worth it.  With one central location for all hiring of the Federal government, efficiency is improved with all the agencies and departments turning to the Treasury to fulfill their personnel needs.  

            Loans are the biggest issue with the EPA making loans to private firms, and the Federal Reserve making loans to foreign countries without Congresses approval.  The only Federal agency that should be able to make loans should be the U.S. Treasury at the direction of Congress.  It is Americas money and should not be spent now or ever without our consent through our representatives.

            We can also make the Treasury take over the job of printing the U.S. dollar.  Currently this is handled by the Federal Reserve which is run by appointed bankers and thus works for the banking industry.  By removing this power we turn the Federal Reserve into an advisory committee on the valuation of the American dollar.  We do not need bankers, appointed or not, deciding how much of our currency is produced, inflating or deflating its value for theirs and their supporters benefit.

            The changes presented here simplify the government.  It would allow Congress to better control U.S. finances; prevent waste at the Federal level, and removing functions from other agencies that they have no business having in the first place.  Obviously the only exception to this centralization would be the military and our intelligence agencies.  In that case, the military and intelligence agencies as a whole or in part would answer to a different centralized body when it comes to fiancés and recruitment.  This is meant to ensure no secretes come out that are not supposed to.  So shall we the people take back control of America’s fiancés through the evolved Treasury?                   

The Idea:  Simplify every aspect of the Federal Government and eliminate government watch dog groups made by the government like the Government Services Administration (GSA) who don't do their job.  In addition, this will eliminate the need for positions in each agency that monitor for accountability like Auditor Generals and other appointed positions that may not be filled, or are ignored.  Of course an enforcement mechanism should be in place, such as the Treasury withholding funds to a department or agency who do not comply, and freezing or taking back pay of Federal employees who do not pay their taxes.  Let's fix this broken system once and for all.