The 4th Branch of Government

The United States of America was a country founded on the ideology of small government and individual liberty. That radical idea created the most prosperous empire the world had ever seen. However, the country today is the furthest thing from those founding principles, as the federal government has become the largest in history by measure of physical scale, global scope and monetary hegemony. The isolationist nation originally focused on domestic industry has twisted into a global superpower whose primary export is debt and war. The U.S. Constitution was supposedly designed to LIMIT the power of government. The Judicial, Legislative and Executive branches were tasked with regulating one another via checks and balances. This system has proven to be flawed, given the rise of a hazardous and unchecked 4th branch of government. The Founders could have never imagined the magnitude of this branch and its dominion over the country they conscientiously established. They are spinning in their graves.

Diagnosed with Stage 3 Bureaucratic Cancer

The federal bureaucracy is a self-replicating organism made up of administrative agencies run by unelected officials and supported by bottomless fiscal budgets. Each individual agency has intentionally undefined authority over commercial industries and their regulatory framework. Typically, the supervisors of these organizations are appointed by elected representatives who report directly to the president or congressional committees. Nevertheless, oversight is quite limited from individuals actually voted in by the people. They have limited legal authority to appropriately control what these agencies do. These agencies hire internally, they propose their own budgets, they define their own scope, and they generally enforce their regulatory doctrine unimpeded.

The federal government manages to spend trillions of dollars yearly and increases fiscal deficits at exponential rates. The blame of which typically falls onto the representatives we elect. Rarely does this blame fall to the individuals who actually SPEND the taxpayer money. The federal bureaucracy employs 3 million people, all have their own salaries, pensions and political agendas. The ability to reign in this long-established congregation is impossibly daunting considering the public’s perception that each and every agency is essential to our government.

This repulsive administrative state is damaging, expensive and antithetical to our representative republic. The power of this 4th branch supersedes the rest of government, they are beholden to private industry, and congressional oversight is laughable. If one were to reconstruct our government to bring power back to the people, they should begin with this cesspool of, totalitarian, corrupt, managerial miscreants that make up the 4th branch of our flawed government.

Public Servants

Those who are unconvinced by this discernment of our federal bureaucracy should first check the validity of their present understanding. First, government officials are NOT underpaid civil servants. On average federal workers receive far more than their private industry counterparts, and they receive far more favorable retirement benefits. They work less hours, receive more vacation, and most recently have been scrutinized for refusing to return to the office following the pandemic.

Then there’s the revolving door between industry and governmental positions that create a wealthy class of corrupt individuals focused more on appeasing the corporations they are supposed to regulate. You’ll come to find that the track record of these agencies that were created to police to the unjust actions of industry and individuals, have actually done a better job to exonerate or even tolerate the perpetrators of heinous crimes against the American people.

The Federal Office of Financial Judicial Management of Land Services for Foreign Diplomacy and Equity

               The earliest forms of federal agencies were derivatives of the executive branch. The Department of State, Treasury, War/Defense, and Attorney General were considered part of the President’s cabinet and seen as the enforcement arm of POTUS. Today these departments have become independent bodies with far less supervision from the executive branch. They have agendas and long-term operations that remain regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. This is why voters are constantly disappointed by the ongoing unpalatable actions of our government despite electing new administrations. The new guy simply adopts the agenda of his predecessor while the administrative state and its unelected officers carry on with a new spokesperson.

The bureaucracy did not particularly grow too much throughout the 18th and 19th centuries but beginning around 1913 various departments began to emerge. Each one is beholden to congressional oversight, and thus, can be subpoenaed and brought before our representatives. This all a big show for the American people as their elected rabblerousers chastise and condemn the actions of agencies. These congressional hearings are rarely followed up with policy repeals or removal of officials. The bureaucrat simply returns to work the next week. Worst case, he is punished with a fancy new position on the Board of a multinational corporation he was originally supposed to regulate.

Case in point, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 created a precedent that free market competition is to be upheld for those engaged in commerce and thus prohibits monopoly formation. However, the federal trade commission (FTC) who tasked with upholding this Act is one of the worst purveyors of monopolies. Corporate cartels have become the norm in American business as the regulators appear more intent on creating and protecting monopolies, alternative to the free-market competition they are tasked with upholding. The last three FTC Chairmen went on to sit on the boards of private equity and law firms specializing in mergers and acquisitions. This is a gross violation of public trust and proves that while holding a position in public office, they were negligent and frankly helpful to the firms they were presumed to be regulating.

A Drop in the Bucket of Corruption

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for promoting public health through the supervision of consumer products. It only takes a quick glance at any random group of Americans, to come to the conclusion that this organization has desolately failed in its duties and is laughably beholden to the pharmaceutical industry. This government agency is liable for the opioid crisis, obesity crisis, dozens of modern illnesses/ailments, and the approval of thousands of carcinogenic chemicals in our food and water supply that are BANNED in most western countries. The FDA allowed machine lubricant to replace our primary source of fat, and allowed the sugar industry to poison Americans with unhealthy levels are carbohydrates. The conflicts of interest that infect this administration are so ridiculous they literally resemble a pharmaceutical board, because it IS a pharmaceutical board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the most perverse in regard to the corrupt practice of revolving doors. They allow the large-scale fraud of major institutions while attacking their competition with litigations and uneven enforcement of securities law. The conflicts-of-interest and individual cases of insider-trading and fraud has plagued this agency and created monopolies. The SEC is responsible for every major institutional level financial crime of the last 50 years. They do not regulate, they are the enforcement arm of the banks and Wall Street.

Following the 2007 great financial crisis, dozens of board members from Citigroup and other big banks took cabinet positions in then Presidential Elect Obama’s administration. These officials were tasked with regulating the banks that caused the crisis. President Bush had several Wallstreet approved individuals who turned a blind eye to the lending schemes that turned the global financial system on its head. The banks regulate themselves, that’s why they keep making the same “mistakes”.

There’s an Agency for Everything… Except for the Managment of Excess Agencies

The Smithsonian Institute and United Archives, one of the first federal agencies, has an idealistic hold over history, archeology, scientific discovery, and dozens of other collections and information that they willfully hide from the public. ALL of their findings and artifacts should be open to the public, but they act in open conspiracy and confide only what is deemed appropriate for communal eyes.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is probably the primary reason for divisive news, repulsive entertainment, and general propaganda for the American media. This is the bottleneck of information that creates a misinformed and distracted American people. They should be treated with utter contempt for their disregard for our freedom of speech and fundamental right to assemble.

The Department of Transportation is hopeless. Just look at the crumbling infrastructure that hasn’t been updated since the Eisenhower Administration. No high speed rail, but plenty of foreign owned toll roads!

The Department of Education needs no lengthy indictment, just look at the obvious results. Our public education system is pathetic compared to Europe and East Asia. The U.S. government spends drastically more per pupil than other countries scores get worse every year. This administrative state is horribly inflated and this bleeds into poor higher education.

The U.S Federal Reserve is a fully independent entity made up of bankers who stem from large national banks. The 12 members of the Board of Governors are all selected by the banks and then dutifully appointed by the President to give the illusion of public representation. There is of course political cohesion between the Fed and government as Janet Yellen, the prior chairman, is acting Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. Fiscal policy has always benefitted the affluent at the expense of middle-class Americans. This organization has a dual mandate of price stability and full employment which they have failed miserably to achieve since their inception in 1913. They have done more to endorse the plutocracy of global finance than any other governing body and are primarily responsible for the devaluation of our currency and the bailout of irresponsible banks. They are the principal financiers of the 4th branch of government and likely the culprits of this disgusting culmination. There can be no federal deficit, or unfavorable wars without a central bank hell bent on printing currency out of thin air.

You Won’t Miss Them

This just scratches the surface of corrupt and inept agencies. The Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, Energy, Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security, Commerce, Agriculture, and even the United Postal service need a serious restructuring or downright abolishment.  The only respectable federal agencies are the National Parks, and Fish and Wildlife Service. However, these priceless services would be better funded and maintained under the purview of State governments. That way they wouldn’t be closed to public every time the government shuts down when congress can’t come up with another inflated budget.

The continuation of these corrupt agencies is damaging to our country and spits on the constitution. The 4th branch of government is arguably very powerful, but it CAN be quelled by the American people and its representative congress. It would take a strong stomach to eliminate the 3 million employed people, but the immediate effects would be drastic and beneficial. The enactment of these agencies was done with good intentions, and there is an obvious need for regulations and checks on monopolistic corporations. This begins with a well-informed public and fair media which was originally described as the 4th branch to balance the power of government and industry.

The people must vote with their wallets and demand that their representatives take the role that these agencies were directed to perform. We have the power to govern ourselves at the state and municipal level. We can find alternatives forms of commerce and reject the corporations that do us harm. We are able to privatize these services or empower local authorities to surpass federal law. We are Americans, we innovate and solve problems like no other nation.

Every single service our government provides can be replaced by a community of people with good intentions and the willingness to serve others. Our country deserves a functioning government that does not bankrupt our people or give unjust power to corporations. We must take back our ability to govern and restore the almost perfect union built by our founders.