A government of the people and by the people! Isn’t that what our government and way of life was set up to be when our founding fathers penned the US constitution? Well guess what! Ever since the end of World War II our dully elected officials in Congress have continually managed to whittle down that concept of the people and by the people. It was in 1947 that some members of Congress along with the top military brass persuaded then President Truman to establish and Congress to pass the National Security Act. Incorporated within the National Security Act was the Bureau of the Central Intelligence Agency otherwise now known as the CIA. Just after the passing of the National Security Act the Truman Administration consolidated all the US Military into the Department of Defense. One of the main issues now from the creation and implementation of the CIA was the extent to which it’s budget and intelligence activities would remain hidden from the public and other members of congress. In order to felicitate and secure the secretive nature that the CIA was now undertaking Congress had to find a way around the Constitution where in Article 1, sec. 9 ” No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” This constitutional requirement very much conflicted with the need for secrecy in which the CIA and now the NSA operate.
This was the real start in which Congress manipulates and circumvents the United States Constitution. No longer is Congress bound by the strict adherence to the Constitution as it was intended by our founding fathers. When Congress managed to pass legislation approving the secrecy over the funding mechanisms used for the CIA and it’s intelligence activities it was done so very rapidly and without debate. The few who openly opposed this bill were left with little else but to let congressional approval of more subsequent bills pass which further pushed the constitution aside. Now any time that public disclosure of where public funds are allotted comes to light all Congress has to do is pass similar legislation all which allows Congress to operate above the law.
In 1949 the CIA Act comprised additions to the original 1947 National Security Act that dealt with the origin of the CIA. What make this so interesting is that this addition to the original National Security Act just gave Congress a stamp of approval in the creation of a “black budget”. This diversion of funds from the Department of Defense into the coffers of the CIA and also today’s NSA are all untraceable to the general public and most members of Congress. A blanket open checkbook without any accountability to where or how millions of tax payers money are used. So that today over one trillion dollars annually are being siphoned by the Department of Defense into the CIA for secret operations whose existence, goals and budget really are kept so secret that even the President isn’t aware of all various operations run by the CIA and the NSA that are using tax paying funds. A second Manhattan Project? It’s like in the movie “Independence Day” where the President is flown to Area 51 and is now confronted by the fact that the military without the Presidents knowledge managed to build secret facilities and carry on covert activities all under the noses of most of Congress and the President himself.
Each year since the US Department of Defense inception the (DoD) lists a number of single line items in its budget that have program numbers or code names. These single line items are covers for the creation of a ‘black budget.’ This is a top secret hush fund set up by the DoD, with the approval of the US Congress to fund intelligence organizations specifically the CIA, the NSA, as well as covert operations with classified weapons programs sponsored by the DoD. The ‘black budget’ allows intelligence activities, covert operations and classified weapons research to be conducted without Congressional oversight on the grounds that oversight would compromise the secrecy essential for the success of such ‘black programs’. These ‘black programs’ are typically classified as ‘Special Access’ or ‘Controlled Access Programs’ that have a security classification system more rigorous than the secret-top secret classifications for most government agencies, making such programs known only to those with a need to know.
The ‘black budget’ funds a covert world of unaccountable intelligence activities, covert military/intelligence operations and classified weapons programs. All this covert activity that funded by Congressional appropriations which authorizes the DoD to use US Treasury funds for classified projects is in direct defience of the constitution. The CIA and now the NSA has the unique legal ability to generate funds through appropriations of other federal government agencies and other sources “without regard to any provisions of law” and without regard to the intent behind Congressional appropriations. Every year, billions of dollars of Congressional appropriations are diverted from their Congressionally sanctioned purposes to the CIA and DoD based intelligence agencies without knowledge of the public and with the collusion of Congressional leaders. The covert world of ‘black programs’ acts with virtual impunity, overseen and regulated by itself, funding itself through secret slush funds, and is free of the limitations that come from Congressional oversight, proper auditing procedures and public scrutiny. In other words Congress itself has positioned themselve so that they alone can manipulate current legislation, divert tax payers funding and propose new legislation that clearly is in direct conflict with the United States Constitution.
We have seen it so many times not only on the Federal level but in state houses all across the country where elected officials submit and pass legislation that is in direct conflict to the wishes and concerns of the majority of their constituents. Not only do elected officials carry on with blatant disregard to the citizens that elected them they continue to show no remorse or sympathy when legislation is passed that clearly is in direct opposition to the wishes of the electorate. The power of incumbency is almost insurmountable for most would be candidates from local all the way to the federal level. Where money begets power and power begets more money is the rule of elections today. Can it be any wonder now that legislation that is designed to circumvent the United States Constitution is routinely passed for the perpetuation of elected officials today?
Above the law has been the rule of law from our elected officials for over 50 years. Black Budget funding is in direct conflict to the United States Constitution. To openly sanction the way congress has manipulate and circumvented the Constitution for the specific reasoning of keeping operations so classified in the name of National Security puts the United States itself at risk. To adhere to the Constitution is fundamental to the preservation and actually the security of the United States.