Posted by
Ed Bradford on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 5:00:00 PM
2009-05-19
Ed Bradford
Death by a thousand cuts.
Our federal government has gotten out of control. Many people are
worried it has gone beyond the pale. I am one of those people. I believe
our government should work within the words and meaning of the
constitution. If the majority of Americans want this country to
be a socialist state, then that should be reflected in laws and
amendments, not in making the most of a crisis or legislation from the
judicial bench.
I cannot understand any kind of logical thinking whereby many of todays
social policy laws can be derived from the Constitution. I have watched
the debate and have accumulated an incomplete but useful list of
activities citizens might do to begin the process of throttling the
federal government and bringing it back to be subject to the people's
will rather than the reverse.
Here is my list:
1. Amendment to Constitution to limit Congress to the the "17 specific
powers that are delegated to it in the Constitution"
[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/25372/?ck=1]
This would be difficult in the current climate because all the
Democrats want bigger government managing more aspects of everyone's
lives. (Suggested by Judge Andrew Napolitano, I think, if I read his
article correctly.)
[unlikely; nevertheless, a continuing effort should be applied.]
2. Abolish Income Tax for a Fair Tax or Flat Tax
This would vastly simplify the tax structure and remove many quid
pro quo opportunities for our legislators. It would also eliminate a
fair number of IRS employees and shrink the size of government.
[unlikely, but should be strongly pursued. Ron Paul, and Neil Bortz
are strong supporters.]
3. Term Limits on Senators and Representatives. One of the major
problems with our government is the entrenched interests held by
people who have been elected to office for 20 and more years. Does
anyone find it curious that the longer you serve in office the
richer you become or the more powerful you become? I don't think our
founding fathers had this in mind. Term Limits (2 for Senators, 4 for
Representatives) would put people in Washington DC who are more
interested in legislating than gaining power.
[unlikely. Its like having the chickens vote on dinner time. The
earlier, the worse it is.]
4. An IYF state law (In Your Face) like the Gun law recently passed
in Montana. I understand the Montana law is not strong enough
to survive appeal. A better one would have a state write a law
that is specifically contradictory of a federal law that has no
constitutional basis for existence. (3.2 gallons per toilet flush
requirement might be the right law and a local community could pass
this one.)
[likely!! This could be done at the state or local level. It requires
some dedicated legal assistence and persistence. Montana has started
with their recent in-state gun laws.]
5. Many states should pass strong affirmations of the 10-th Amendment.
While I don' think anything specific will come out of that, 20 or
more states passing such a law will send an unmistakeable message to
the Federal Government and be a strong support system for electing
like minded people.
[likely, but I don't believe it will have much effect. Legal opinion
might be different, though. I heartily support this effort; it is
not costly and sends a message.]
6. Start a general revolt in state legislatures. Pass laws that say if
the state government cannot derive a federal statute from the US
Constitution, the state will not enforce the law. Leave those laws to the
federal government to enforce -- sort of like the Sanctuary cities,
but with logic behind it. Sancutary cities refuse to enforce federal
laws because they don't like them. States should refuse to enforce a
federal law if the law cannot be understood to be derived from the
Constitution. [Suggested on Glenn Beck on May 15, 2009 or
thereabouts].
This is what Andrew Jackson did with the Supreme Court. While I don't
agree with the subject matter in Jackson's dispute, the technique
looks pretty good.
[Interesting and confrontational right at the start. It would take
a brave state legislature and governor. The only states I know with
that kind of kohonahs are Texas and Oklahoma.]
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My recommendation would be to do as many of the 6 plans as possible.
Start a planning Web page with sign ups for communities and states. Montana
is the leader and has already started. Utah and Texas are considering
actions. What about counties and cities? They too can participate.
If the list starts growing, there will be serious concern in Washington,
DC. To address this concern, bills for a Fair Tax and Term Limits should
be prepared and in hand for the right opportunity to submit. The same is
true for the Amendment to the constitution suggested in #1 above.
Death by 1000 cuts to the Federal Bureaucracy and power monopoly.
States and local legislators should look into #4 above. That is an
efficient way to challenge Administrative Rules that cannot be justified
by the constitution.