Today we find ourselves staring at a Federal government we do not recognize. Our own government, shaped by the very people we elected, no longer represents our hopes and dreams as Americans. As the Federal government expands, creeping into every aspect of our lives even to the point as to decree what kind of light bulbs we will use, it more resembles the Old World tyranny we fought 234 years ago.
We are once again serfs to a distant tyrannical oligarchy filled with bureaucrats armed with petty rules and regulations. Powered by self assumed powers and authority backed with intimidation, these desk bound totalitarians dictate our fates and micro-manage our lives. We have no recourse against this regulatory horde, we did not elect them. We did not appoint them to their positions or define their authorities. Those we chose, elected and trusted with our freedom and our Constitution, did this to us.
Our elected officials demanded the fruits of our labor. They told us that we were selfish for wanting to enjoy that which we had earned and to provide for our families. The elected spoke of duty and fairness, all the while they tread the very Constitution they were charged with under their feet and lived by a radically different set of rules. They cheated and lied and paid no price, for they were too important to be hindered by mere morality.
The Federal government passed laws to hinder our pursuit of happiness; they hobbled our liberty and told us it was for our good. These elected shook their heads disapprovingly at our faith and our God and sent us into the shadows to worship according to our conscience. They elevated the base and then reprimanded us for not embracing those who despised our morals.
How did this happen? How did this blessed land, formed by inspired men and created to be a beacon of hope and a cradle of freedom become the shackled, dark and hopeless nation we see before us today?
It happened by moving the ruling power little by little further away from us. As time went by the States lost more authority and rights to the Federal government. The Federal government was too far away from us for us to be bothered by it, besides, could we really make a difference on such a large national scale?
Federal programs replaced our local State efforts and soon we forgot that the States themselves were meant to be sovereign entities. We stopped going to the States to rectify problems and pled our cases to the Federal government instead.
This United States of America will not be the nation we dreamt of until the States are the States our founding fathers dreamt of again. There must be a radical reversal of powers back to the States and away from the Federal government.
There are five things which must be done to return the States to their rightful positions in a Constitutional government.
1. Repeal the 17th Amendment. The 17th Amendment took the election of Senators away from the State Legislation and elected them by popular election. This denied the States a seat at the table at the national level thus denying them the ability to truly defend their sovereignty. Senators now are more beholden to special interests and the Federal government than the States they represent. The populace would still be represented by the House.
2. Pass the FairTax. This would eliminate all the punitive and hidden taxes the Federal government has shackled us with and replace them with a single transparent Federal sales tax. This would deny the Federal government the ability to manipulate and coerce a State’s citizens by targeted taxation. It would also make the true magnitude of the Federal government’s plunder of a State’s wealth visible.
3. Return Federally confiscated lands to the States. The Federal government currently holds 650,000,000 acres of land. This is equal to roughly 1/3rd of the United States. Most of this land is simply sitting there unused. This land is the wealth of a State and belongs in the hands of its citizens. There is enough land to give every American 2 acres or to create 16.25 million 40 acre homesteads. We’ll need to step up our mule production.
4. Eliminate the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy, and HUD. Each of these departments has taken the right of self rule away from the States and moved it into a centralized government. The American education experience has suffered since the creation of the Department of Education. Our States are denied the right to utilize their own energy resources by the Department of Energy. HUD has filled our cities with urban decay and littered our States with planned ghettos.
5. Eliminate Federal welfare. The role of the State is to care for its people, when that role is usurped by the Federal government the State no longer has real purpose. When the Federal government doles out welfare, it loots the wealth of one State to reward another State.
These five items, if passed, would radically change our current situation. They would create wealth and freedom across the nation and return the American dream to the common man. To restore our nation we must restore our States.
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Amen, brother. I absolutely agree with points 1, 3, 4, & 5. I would agree to point #2 on one condition: an amendment to the U.S. Constitution must be passed to prevent the government from taxing us coming and going.
ReplyDeleteRegarding #4: eliminating the Department of Education would go a long way toward eliminating the permanent underclass. In my opinion, education needs to be removed from _state_ level control, and returned to the local districts, so long as those districts educate students to a level agreed upon by all the districts in the states. There are a whole host of grade level standards out there--all that needs to be done is pick one, and fail all students that don't have legitimate disabilities (specifically, low IQ, Autism Spectrum Disorder, or other such definable disabilities) who won't perform up to grade level. I teach writing at a college, and see the results of students passed along when they won't do the work. These students believe that they're entitled to an A for showing up (but not doing the work). This mentality leads directly to welfare dependency.
If 5 cannot be ended immediately, remove the voting rights of each and every deadbeat on the government dole until it can be. It's a conflict of interest to allow the leeches to vote more money out of our pockets into theirs. Once they get off their unproductive backsides and start paying taxes..._then_ they can have a say.
Another couple of things that need to happen would be to end corporate welfare (i.e., TARP, GM buyout, etc.), and farm subsidies. I'd also lower the corporate tax rate to near 0 in an attempt to lure jobs back to the U.S., but that's just me.
But, as I said, you are entirely correct in most of your other suggestions.
1. I would suggest you read and understand why the 17th amendment was created and why it is 'arguably' necessary today... and keep in mind, the Senate is responsible for representing every State =equally=.
ReplyDelete2. Yes. Eliminate income tax and enact a federal consumption tax. One thing people miss about this idea is that if taxes increase, EVERYONE, including the poor feel it. This would encourage ALL citizens to watch where their taxes are going.
3. While we're at it, remove the ability to tax property for any reason by Federal, State, or Local government. Otherwise, you're renting, not owning.
4. The only dispute I have with removing these departments is you lose ALL regulation. However, each of these departments could be trimmed to a minimum with the exception of HUD which should be dissolved.
See: http://theindependentrant.blogspot.com/2010/11/education-reform.html
5. The only valid argument I've heard to de-federalize "all" social programs is federal incompetence. While I agree that they are incompetent, you have to consider population migration. For example, many people, who never lived in Florida, nor paid taxes in Florida, retire in Florida. So how does Florida maintain revenue to support the influx of people using State benefits they never paid into? This will cause unintended consequences such as States shutting their borders to neighboring State citizens.
I enjoyed your post and look forward to more.