We got a lot of attention last week with a piece about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's revelation that, at a recent meeting, President Obama had threatened the nation's governors that "you'll hear from me" if they criticized him about federal spending.
The whole conversation was in the context of National Guard use, but that was sort of beside the point. Obama doesn't like getting called out by anyone for the way he deploys federal resources and power, and he wanted to make it clear to the governors that they had better stay in line and not do anything that would make him look bad. Folks responded to this in a big way because they understand that when Obama starts issuing threats like this, he is acting a lot more like a dictator than like an elected and accountable leader.
But I wonder how strong the reaction would be if the population at large really recognized the Obama/Democrat Party strategy here.
We know that Obama is abusing his authority to govern via executive orders, and we need to understand exactly how he's putting himself in a position to expand the use of this tool. When Obama issues an order mandating an increase in the minimum wage, or banning "discrimination" against LGBT workers, he can't just arbitrarily issue this order for the entire country without the approval of Congress. Even he knows that. But what he can do is issue the order for all federal contractors, because as chief executive, he can set the rules to determine who qualifies as a federal contractor unless there is specific legislation to the contrary (which there won't be as long as he is president because he would veto it).
This is where the explosive growth of the federal government becomes so dangerous. As the federal government spends more and more of the nation's total wealth - and at times during Obama's presidency it has spent as much as 24.8 percent of GDP - it becomes increasingly difficult for the business community to function without touching some aspect of federal government operations. When one institution is gobbling up one-fifth to one-quarter of the nation's capital, an awful lot of companies large and small will have no choice but to seek federal contracts. You have to go where the opportunity is.
And if you want to even try to be a federal contractor, you have to follow the rules set forth by the Obama Administration - in terms of who you can hire, what you can pay and all kinds of other details large and small. So the bigger the federal government gets, the more businesses essentially fall under the rules arbitrarily dictated by Barack Obama. Even a subcontractor to a federal contractor has to follow these rules, so even if you don't seek federal contractor status, you still have to do it Obama's way if one of your customers does.
And Democrats don't care who this puts out of business. Small restaurants on federal land have succumbed to the consequences of Obama's rulemaking. That's not something they see as a problem because the ultimate objective of the Democrats is power for themselves, not the sustainability of private businesses.
So when Obama tells governors to keep their mouths shut and not criticize his spending, he's really telling them that the expansion of the federal government will not be derailed by a bunch of people in state capitals who still think the states have anything to say about how things work around here. In fact, even the states are in a precarious position because they rely heavily on federal funding for things like Medicaid and highway construction. That is one of the reasons you sometimes see Republican governors reluctant to oppose the re-election of long-time Democrat members of Congress. These Democrats have clout in Washington to keep the federal funds flowing back to their states, and the Republican governors don't like it but they know that under the current system they need that money.
This is all about power for Democrats. The more of the nation's capital that flows through Washington, the more you need the favor of those who control it, so you'd best behave yourself. Barack Obama has the money and the federal contracts that you, or someone close to you, needs to survive. Don't upset him. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
