Government Accountability

Recently two nations have discovered vast potential resources that could transform their country from poor third world affairs toward second world status; Ghana with oil and Afghanistan and minerals. With great wealth comes power and responsibilities. These governments cannot appropriate this income for their own use, even if well intended to serve its people. A government that does not depend on its citizens will not be accountable to its citizen.
A government comes to depend on its citizens through two primary ways. Firstly through taxation to acquire income for governmental function. But this alone will a recipes for corruption; obligue noblesse cannot be institutionalized or relied upon. Also firstly, side by side with taxation is election. True election can only exists in a open Democracy where there are competitive election and true counting of the votes. Secondary to taxation and election has to be term limits. Once elected the power acquired through taxation will make incumbents the favorites for elections. Term limits for all elected officials is a necessary safeguard against corruption, but not necessarily accountability.
The final and ultimate safeguard against a corrupt and unaccountable government must rest with its citizens. Whereas elections is a political manifestation of this, the potential for more must exists, even if only on the periphery beyond conversation. The population must be armed for the potential event of insurrection against a corrupt, unaccountable and unjust government. On the most base of level, the government must fear those it govern so that boundaries will be respected beyond the written law.
The United States has all the requisites for government accountability. With regard to the new found democracy of Iraq, as well as that of the nations of Ghana and Afghanistan, my advice is to arm their population as a first step toward an accountable government. Yes this will make formation of a new government more difficult, but this difficulty arises from ensuring that the population to be governed is agreeable with the nature of the government. Growing pains ensure appropriate future limits.

Indian Americans

When Nikki Haley wins the gubernatorial election in South Carolina come November, as she did tonight in the GOP run off, she will join Bobby Jindal as the second Indian American to be elected as Governor in the US. Interesting that both are Republicans.


Update:
WSJ: An Indian in the White House?

Obama

In less than a year and a half of a four years term, the majority of Americans have come to understand the nation made a mistake with his election. Obama's failures span all fields of government from domestic economic policy, environmental protection, health care reform, foreign relations, as well as military direction. At the core the failures arise from a mismatch of core values between what American values and Obama's own ideology as well as a failure of leadership, believing rhetoric sufficient to inspire actions without sufficient ability to direct people of ability to apply their expertise.
Whether Obama is a fool or a knave has become irrelevant; the time for that debate has passed. The time now is how to minimize his ability to damage this nation. Personally I believe Obama is both a fool and a knave, a highly dangerous combination but insufficient ground for impeachment. With our divided government, the definitive mean to contain Obama lies within either the Judiciary or the Legislative. Unfortunately, the integrity of the Justices in the defense of the Constitution is under threat with Obama's appointment of judges as approved by Congress. Thus the key to contain Obama is to apply all reasonable resources to neutralize the leftist Democrat control of the Legislative Congress. All competitive House elections must be turned away from the Democrats. At this point I do not believe there are any such creature as a conservative Democrat; they must all be turned out. If permissible, safe Republican races must also turn from RINO incumbents to conservative new comers unless this turn threatens election of a Democrat.
The secondary line of defense against the harm of an Obama presidency will be the the states. Both the governorship and the state legislatures must move toward conservative ideals of less dependency on the Federal government. A dependent state government are willing victims of federal over reach that is the hallmark of the Obama administration. And among the ranks of current or former governors, someone with true leadership and executive experience will we find a challenger for Obama come 2012.


Update:
Roger L Simon wonders if Obama has lost interests in being President and believes this would be a dangerous situation for us all.

Pure Imagination