Prune the Executive Branch

It would appear the executive branch is in need of some pruning. The whole country seems to be abuzz about the numerous scandals that Barack Obama's administration is currently dealing with. The major three being, of course, the IRS specifically targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny, the unwarranted spying on the Associated Press and other media outlets, and the deaths of Americans at a "diplomatic outpost" in Benghazi. In all of these cases Obama has pleaded ignorance. So much goes on day to day in the executive branch. How is Barack Obama, a mere mortal after all, to be expected to know about every development? It seems the executive branch has become too big to succeed.

My biggest problem with Obama's excuse is that it is plausible. The executive branch houses far too many departments which employ over 4 million people altogether. Presidents come and go, but these departments, staff organizations, "independent agencies", and government-owned corporations continue stripping liberties and destroying the economy decade after decade. It is literally impossible for a president to fully know what goes on inside the EPA, CIA, or the IRS. This is a problem. But what is the solution?

The Founders would have considered most of the bureaucracies that have sprung up in the executive office unconstitutional. Protecting wetlands from economic development just wasn't seen as the role of government. Instead, the role of government was supposed to be protecting the life and property of citizens so that they could live as free human beings. But it seems that almost everything the executive does these days runs contrary to that role.

It is high past time that we reduce the size and scope of the executive branch. We can start by eliminating every department not specifically sanctioned in the original constitution. This includes the despicable IRS. We will need to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment which allows the federal government to tax our incomes. This will be a huge boost to our struggling economy and allow us to build the capital we will need to return to improving each succeeding generation's standard of living. The feds will be forced to limit their actions, overseas and domestic, in order to survive on the decreased cash flow from the taxpayers. The world will be a better place. We will then accrue the additional benefit of the President unquestionably being involved in the day-to-day decision making in the White House. We will know whom to blame.