Who should make the financial decisions

We can now determine if the people might do better at spending and taxation decisions for our country using the democratic solution process than the political parties have.

The first critical question is which rulers would put the citizens first. We believe that citizens are the primary customers of government processes. While we are not the primary customers of government now, two points indicate that we could be under a Collaborative Democracy.

1. When implemented to favor the people and not the politicians in control, participatory budgeting resulted in much faster progress for the people in all areas. The people were wise at making collaborative spending decisions while maintaining a budget. [20]

2. Recall that the democratic solution process is not a vote. It moves participants through a series of activities using their collective intelligence to develop and select beneficial solutions. Our process is in direct contrast to politicians voting as they are told on huge omnibus appropriations bills without even reading the bills or understanding the impact. It is in contrast to laws made to benefit the power elite, their business interests, and other special interests such as labor unions and foreign governments.

Spending the right amount in the right area

The approach of our government rulers to solve any issue is to throw money at it, or at least in the direction of their special interests in that industry. No justification of the cost, discussion of the risk, or disclosure of possible negative side effects occurs. No transparency or honest disclosures of benefits for special interests and politicians exist.

Once the large amount is spent or the fiscal law is in place, frequently there is no follow up to determine if the spending was beneficial or achieved its goals. It is left to the opposition party to monitor for negative side effects and failures of the program. When they do, it is dismissed as political rhetoric. The political parties always spin the results into a win.

In contrast, the democratic solution process would address one issue at a time through participation of the people with full transparency. Spending decisions would be associated with a specific issue, not huge amounts of money targeted broadly with no tracking. Polls and surveys wouldn't be used for decisions because the actual population would participate in solving the issue and expressing what was important to them.

Solutions would be focused on producing specific, measurable outputs. If the desired results were not achieved, the people could learn from the experience and modify the solution, increasing their collective wisdom and intelligence. Changes and corrections could be incorporated more rapidly. There would be continual, visible improvement.

The solution to government waste

It seems to be clear to everyone including the government itself that the political parties, politicians, and the political appointees who run the government's departments and agencies are not good financial managers, wasting much of the wealth that we produce. The standard government solution of creating a law or a mandate that the government must reduce spending or balance their budget would be a waste in itself. Additional oversight would not change the way they operate. Passing laws to limit spending would not solve the root cause of our political problems just as campaign donation restrictions and reporting requirements have not solved campaign finance issues and the debt ceiling has not controlled the national debt.

Would we do any better if we ruled ourselves? I believe we would. First, it is our money, whether it is spent in the form of taxation or inflation. We would experience the results of our solutions. We would pay the price where we feel it is beneficial and avoid spending where we feel the outcome isn't worth it to us. I believe many of us would be motivated to optimize government and to eliminate waste and duplication. While lowering taxes would be nice, at least the money spent should all be put to good use with the least waste possible. It might seem prudent to many to begin to lower the national debt before we hit the wall, even if no one is quite sure where the wall is.

Second, through the democratic solution process, we would generate solutions with the biggest bang for the buck for us the people. We would certainly reduce corruption, graft, earmarks, and the money spent to support corporations and special interests unnecessarily. (That alone might eliminate the annual deficit!) With the collective knowledge, talent, and intelligence that we possess, I believe we would make much wiser financial decisions. In addition and perhaps just as important, we would know exactly why each solution was passed. We would all stop fighting and complaining because the buck would stop with us. Eventually, the propaganda concepts of the left versus the right would disappear.

The hard decisions of making the country solvent

The never-ending claim by the elite from the Constitutional Convention until now is that the people would spend irresponsibly. The theory is that the masses are only motivated by greed and that they would decide to spend more and more because it would benefit them, unlike the elite who are wise and responsible stewards. It should be clear by now that the opposite is true regarding the elite and the political parties.

It appears to me that the tiny elite class and their special interests take advantage of the situation whenever possible. I believe that our Collaborative Democracy is the only possible antidote to them. When I look at the decisions made by the people in legitimate participatory budgeting programs, and the actual results of surveys regarding federal spending, I see a collective common sense. I don't see financial carelessness. I see responsibility. I see many people in society who would love to participate in changing things for the better but they are controlled and have no way to contribute. I see the majority of people reacting rationally when given true and useful information instead of one-sided interpretations by the media. Through Federal Councils and Citizen Governance Websites, we could eliminate duplication and reduce waste, which would save money.

I believe that We The People are the only rulers who would spend money responsibly for solutions that produce the benefits desired by the people without wasting much of it or directing it to special interests.

Key takeaway: We The People are the only hope of controlling government size and spending and eliminating national deficits.

The people of the US are very resilient. Collectively, we have great power and wealth. I believe we would make the hard decisions necessary for our country to prosper in every way far beyond what we have imagined. I believe that it would bring us together and resolve the political divide.

Emergency spending

We have had a few crises that have required quick government spending responses such as for military actions (which are discussed in the next chapter). Sometimes Congress has acted quickly. Other times politics created a long drawn-out affair. Could our Collective Democracy react quickly in an emergency?

Yes. Federal Councils would be empowered to react quickly in specific emergencies for a limited period such as 30 days without an approved solution by the people. The list of qualified emergencies could vary by Federal Council according to the jurisdiction of their department. In addition, a Federal Council could submit an issue to its Citizen Governance Website as an emergency issue. Emergency issues would be publicized nationally and go through the democratic solution process much faster to meet the solution deadline.