If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. Mark Twain

 Lysander Spooner of American Letter Mail Company fame as well as many other things once said

"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist."

I used the quote in a discussion and had somebody wonder why I am a CFL member if I agree with the quote. This is my response. I hope it clarifies.

I think that it is a clear statement of the facts as they exist but not as they should exist. We have to be able to view the world as it is and not as we wish it were.

Quoting Spooner does not mean I think we should throw away our constitution. I do think we need to recognize that the constitution is in some small way broken.

Broken?

Is it realistic to say that our constitution has sufficiently restrained the federal government?

As Madison said the constitution is only adequate to govern a moral people and it is unfit to govern any other. He was right, it governed a moral people just fine. We don't have a moral people any longer.

We have a nation of people that believe they can live at the expense of everybody else. As long as they launder the money through government it's not stealing.

Orwell once wrote "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"

Or Ron Paul "Truth is treason in an empire of lies"

Truth? The constitution as it is currently written has not lived up to its primary task; to guard liberty.

Am I wrong? I think the evidence speaks for itself. Without changes that put some type of enforcement mechanism in the hands of the states or the people, someone aside from SCOTUS and the federal government, America will always wind up where we are now. And that assumes we can somehow stuff the federal government back into the box where it belongs.

The problem is the wife beater is in charge of determining the size and scope of the marriage contract.

deTocqueville as well as others predicted this. "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

I don't think the constitution needs to be thrown away or even changed radically. I do think we need to look at it objectively, like a broken kite. We need to figure out what small adjustments we can make that will allow the kite to fly without applying so much duct tape that it won't get off the ground.

If we refuse to even consider the possibility that the constitution might be broken, we cannot fix it. We also deny the words of the founding fathers as evidenced by the fact that they purposely provided for an amendment mechanism to cover situations such as we currently have.

If, as I think, the entire purpose of the constitution was to defend liberty, it is not doing what it was supposed to do. In this sense, Spooner's quote, was correct.

Franklin said "Where liberty is, there is my country"

Are we Americans because of the soil we occupy? Or because of the ideals we cherish?

Another Ron Paul quote, "Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy."

I think the words "the constitution" could be used interchangeable with democracy in that quote because the constitution was created to preserve liberty not the other way around. The founding fathers did not determine to write a constitution and as part of the deliberation process decide to use that constitution to protect liberty. They were determined to protect liberty and decided a written constitution with proper checks and balances was the most appropriate way to accomplish the goal. Soldiers don't swear to protect and defend the constitution because it is by itself important, they swear to protect and defend the constitution because of the ideals that are embodied within it.

The constitution was not written to be revered it was written to be used.

Every aspect of the constitution was designed for the purpose of preserving liberty. Some directly protect liberty as in the case of free speech. Some indirectly, as is the case of having senators appointed by the states instead of being directly elected. (We already screwed up that balance of power.)

There have been many amendments to the constitution. Some have had tremendous impact on the actual working of the constitution. We do not live under the same constitution as Jefferson or Washington or Adams. They would not recognize the incorporation process of the 14th Amendment. They would not recognize the 16th amendment as legitimate. When the doctrine of incorporation was adopted, the old constitution, a contract between the states, ceased to exist. When the 16th Amendment was enacted every freedom guaranteed under the constitution was instantly and radically abridged. There is not one of the original amendments in the bill of rights that is protected, respected or held sacred by the federal government and because of the 17th Amendment; the states are powerless to enforce the constitution.

The 16th Amendment is particularly offensive to liberty. These thirty words entirely undid every other part of the constitution. Thirty words nullified the six-thousand words that proceeded them. Thirty words erased the right to free speech, religion, firearms, to avoid self incrimination, to an attorney, to a jury trial, to confront your accuser, to be secure in your person, houses, papers and effects.

Don't think so? Never heard of a church being threatened with loss of exemption for endorsing a candidate?  The IRS frequently lets people know if they bring an attorney to an audit they will be punished for it. More than one church (yes, they are crackpots) has lost exemption for stockpiling guns, what you want to use two rights at once? How about signing a 1040 return on penalty of perjury every year? Have you seen what happens to those who refuse to sign? Want a jury trial? Sorry you get IRS administrative court instead. Are you seriously wondering about IRS search and seizures? Did you know the IRS assigns fake IDs to agents? Want to confront your accuser? Sorry he doesn't work here anymore he maka pizza. The 16th Amendment is a Declaration of Ownership by a federal government that recognizes no limits on its power to tax or regulate every aspect of our lives.

Many think the problem with the income tax is the IRS. If only we could domesticate those guys the income tax would be OK. This is naive. How could you have an income tax without a draconian IRS? Elected officials love to blame and pretend to tame the bureaucrats of the IRS but if they ever did gentrify the IRS, the income tax would stop working. Nobody would pay. I don't like the IRS anymore than anybody else but the truth is they are doing the job congress gave them. (Of course there are some who, unfortunately, like the job they were given a little too much. Tyranny is like that.) The problem with the IRS is rooted in, and cannot be separated from, the existence of an Income Tax and the 16th Amendment.

I suspect any objection to Spooner's quote is primarily related to the final sentence in it "In either case, it is unfit to exist."  An unlimited power to tax supposedly free men, at any rate and under any conditions government might choose, is entirely at odds with the primary purposes of government which is to protect and preserve liberty. As long as the 16th Amendment is a part of the constitution; it is unfit to exist.

What am I doing at CFL if I think the constitution is broken? I assume Campaign for Liberty is about advancing the cause of Liberty. If Ron Paul is the "spiritual" founder of CFL and he is to be taken at his word, as quoted above, I am in the right place.

I love my country (the soil) and I love the ideals embodied in the Declaration and the Constitution.

If forced to choose between the two, I choose the ideals.

If truth is treason I hope I have done enough to be found guilty.

Agree? Disagree? If I haven't educated you..... Educate Me.

I am an ardent believer in the constitution but I think we on the conservative or libertarian side have drunk to much of the media cool-aid.

It is often portrayed as rightwingers that beat civil rights protesters, the right was the side that looked around and said “hey, what are you doing?”

Absent the decent, normal, rightwing of America, the Democrats, and their Fascist brethren, would have cheerfully beaten every African American to death rather than allow them to drink from a whites only fountain or ride in the front of the bus.
It was the moral rightwingers that brought about an end to slavery in the US. And while I am a states rights supporter, and I think it could have been done differently, at least it is done. That stain has been eradicated from America.
Why blacks don’t vote more conservatively I don’t know. I do know from watching Democrats that if Jesse and Al stop delivering the black vote, blacks will be getting firehosed and beaten in the streets by Herr Reid, Nazi Pelosivich and their followers. One look at Leiberman shows the party that doesn’t believe in spanking does believe in slaughtering dissenters in the ranks. Maybe blacks are just scared of the “Bossman” since they spent over 200 years being owned by Democrats and another 150 years being owned by proxy. It happens. Many of the Hebrews wanted to go back and make peace with Pharoah. Blacks apparently have an intergenerational version of Stockholm Syndrome. A dog may bite the hand that feeds it but not the hand that beats it.

We can protest all we want, as loud as we want, as long as we want and they will contentedly make fun of “tea bagging rednecks” on the MSM (My Stasi Media).  They have a plan.

The ObamaCare plan, as has been pointed out elsewhere, is already making provision for the euthanasia of undesirables (teabagging rednecks). This trick was learned from their brethren, the Nazi’s, in Germany.

We do not need any more Chamberlains denying the reality of the enemy. The modern Progressive liberal has made it as clear as Hitler did in Mein Kempf. They have written their books like Obama’s Science Czar (John Holdren) and they have made it clear murder is not an obstacle to achieving their goals. He is not the only Obamanaut to advocate murder or tyranny in pursuit of liberal utopia. The mindset of a liberal is already willing to kill an innocent unborn child while opposing the death penalty for the most heinous of murderers. They may need the murderers when we doth protest to much.

If we actually protested loudly enough to have an effect on public opinion they would get mean(er).
This isn’t to say we should roll over and play dead and I am not a violent revolutionist; to recapture a constitutional America we are going to have to win at the ballot box.  Soon.

If we go back to prewar Germany, shortly after Hitler was elected, we would find sane people afraid to call Hitler what he was. Obama is no less a monster than Hitler. There is no line Hitler toyed with that Obama wouldn’t cross. Obamacare isn’t just going to pay for euthanasia it requires the elderly to have a euthanasia conference with a government hack at least every five years. More often if they are sick. 

The question is whether America will wake up, recognize this guy and his sycophants for what they are, and act in time to make a difference. Or will we 50 years from now be like Germany with a past of so dark and cruel we can not bear to think of it. That day is coming. This man will bring it.

Some Germans protested Hitler in the streets until the protesters started disappearing.

Protests are not going to win this battle. Elections might.

We probably have only one or two POTUS elections to do it.

 

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.

George Orwell

America is rapidly reaching a point of no return. Our constitution has been shredded by both Bush and Obama. They are not alone in this, virtually every president since Teddy Roosevelt has trampled it to some degree.

Thomas Jefferson wrote to Joseph Priestley in 1802

Though written constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally and recall the people. They fix, too, for the people the principles of their political creed.

One hundred and twenty five years of trashing the constitution is not a moment of passion or delusion. Many are now calling for a return to a constitutional form of government. It strains belief how thoroughly we, the American people, have abdicated our responsibility to hold public officials accountable to their constitutional duties.

Do we not recall there were men and women who died to protect and defend the form of government spelled out in that document?

If we are honest we can see that the Progressive usurpation has not been the exclusive domain of the Democrats, though they seem on the face to be the most radical. Every Republican administration, Teddy was a Republican after all, has participated in the debauchery that has come to power in Washington or at least sanctioned it by acquiescence.

 Some would say “you’ve got issues man”. We all have issues. That is the problem. For those who attended any of the recent tea parties you will probably recognize the fact that everybody had their issue and it was the only issue they wanted to talk about. Everybody was talking at each other or around each other and politely applauding each other’s speeches. One guy is intent on lower taxes, another wants less spending, another to stop bailouts, Term Limits, The Fair Tax, The Flat Tax, ObamaCare, drug laws, seat belt laws, etc.

We must recognize that ending all government interference in the lives of Americans is critical to recovering the liberty lost. And make no mistake, it is already lost. We are no longer in “preserve our freedom” mode.

I have a right to keep and bear arms.
I have a right to an attorney.
Free speech is a right.
A free press is a right.
Free religious expression is a right.
Voting is a right.
 

A right doesn't signify another's obligation to provide me with:

A gun. Unless I enlist to provide political cover for philandering presidents.
An attorney. If I rape a child they will give me an attorney.
Free Speech writers. Unless I am a politician.
My own newspaper to print what I wish.
Free church. Oops, forgot about the public school system.
NOBODY VOTES FOR ME. Unless I am dead and Al Franken needs a little extra.

Health care is a right.

The free market is a right.

I suggest a liberty minded politician move to attach an amendment to require the government to fund all of my rights. I am sure Teddy "The Fish" Kennedy or Barney "BamBam" Frank will co-sponsor.

I would like a couple of 12ga pump shotguns and a pair of 9mm semi autos. Remember to include the ammo. 10,000 rounds apiece should get me through the summer.
I am currently foreclosing on a house after 18mos. of non-payment. The legal fees are in excess of $10,000. Please send the check for my attorney to Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.
I want my free speechwriters, Obama has the people behind TOTUS they not only tell him what to say they also tell him what to think. In fact a teleprompter would be good as well.
Obama has CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, the Trib publications, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Journal Constitution, and the Sidwell Friends School Student Report; Where's my free press?
We've already got free church covered. I guess it is my fault I home-school.
We could help fund the New Black Panthers. The Philadelphia Experiment demonstrated their commitment to helping the right people to vote.

Health care is a right.
Paying for it, like anything else in the free market is my obligation.
The Free Market is a right.
Perhaps if our theoretical politician introduced an amendment recognizing every American's right to participate in the free market. A right to buy whatever health care or health insurance we want from anybody willing to sell it provided we have the money.
 

Isn’t it amazing to see, the same people, who regularly call for more accountability and openness regarding the CIA, are now stonewalling any form of openness and accountability for the Federal Reserve? They regularly out CIA, DOD and other covert operatives. They cut funding and expose the most trivial of indiscretions and shortcomings on the part of our intelligence agencies. Now these individuals are doing everything in their power to assist the most powerful, most unaccountable and probably the most dangerous Federal NON-Agency from any form of accountability and openness.

Everything the intelligence community does must be held up to the light of day they say but when it comes to a Federal Reserve that has caused at least 6 recessions and is the architect of the current Obama Depression as well as the last “Great” depression we are supposed to grant this incompetent bunch of money grubbers “independence.”

Independence, when we speak of children is something you earn. Parents do not send their children out into the world completely independent until long after they prove they have earned it. The Federal Reserve is directly responsible for the current economic crisis; they helped cause the bubble that preceded it and which made it inevitable. They caused the recession of the 1970’s and the recession of the 1950’s. They caused the bubble of the roaring 20’s and that bubble, like the 90’s bubble which led to this current crisis, led to the crisis of the 30’s affectionately known as the Great Depression. There has never been a time since the creation of the Federal Reserve that they could be considered to have proven themselves capable of managing the money supply. This child of a bloated Federal Government has not earned independence. They have earned a spanking.

They have never accepted responsibility for the path of destruction left in their wake. They have not earned our trust. They have earned our righteous indignation.

Why are Sheila Jackson Lee and Jesse Jackson Jr. protecting a money syndicate that has proven itself to be entirely incompetent to the task it was given? Experience has taught that when the reasons aren’t obvious, there is a money trail somewhere. Is the Fed buying protection from a corrupt congress? We already know that these are two of the most corrupt members of congress; with Jesse Jr. attempting to buy Obama’s old seat in the Senate and Jackson-Lee a publicity hound if ever there was one. But these two are not the only ones stonewalling any attempt to shed the light of day on this long secretive, politically motivated and powerfully inept syndicate of bankers. The DailyPaul.com is maintaining a list of the people protecting the Fed from reasonable oversight. Look at the DailyPaul.com for the latest list of recalcitrant Republicans as well as Democrats.

Call the members of List of Shame and let them know you don’t appreciate their attempts to stonewall reasonable oversight in the face of disastrous results. This type of stonewalling is exactly the same as the stonewalling Barney “BamBam” Frank and many of these same corrupt members performed on behalf of other of their benefactors, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. They prohibited oversight then that could have prevented or lessened the effects of the housing bubble.

Tell them, they must co-sponsor and support HR1207 in the House or S604 in the Senate.

 

The end of the Free Market?

I have yet to see anybody discuss one particular aspect of Cap and Trade. This aspect spells the end of the Free Market.

A little background first.

If you are familiar with tobacco allotments that may be all you need to know. If you haven’t heard of tobacco allotments let me explain a bit. When the government decided to cap the amount of tobacco grown they began an allotment system much like cap and trade. Each farmer that was already growing tobacco would receive an “allotment” to continue growing a proportional ratio of tobacco. These allotments were and are actively sold from one farmer to another. They can also be rented. The price for an allotment can be quite high. Because of the limited nature of the allotments oftentimes the owner of an allotment isn’t and never has been a tobacco farmer, they are instead an investor or speculator.

If you suddenly got a whim to be a tobacco farmer you cannot just get an allotment from the government. You have to find somebody willing to sell or rent their allotment. If nobody is willing to sell or rent their allotment then you cannot become a tobacco farmer. As you might imagine, big tobacco has long since locked up as many allotments as possible. The rest are treated like gold and literally passed down from generation to generation.

Big business pretty well dominates tobacco. Once they get their hands on an allotment it never goes back onto the market. The only way they trade allotments are in large blocks that no small business man could afford. The tobacco allotments system was ostensibly to help the little guy but increasingly there are no little guys in tobacco.

For practical purposes we don’t have any new tobacco farmers. The little guy, the startup, is shutout.

Next we look at the IP Address space. Originally the IP address space was designed for a network that comprised the military, a few R&D businesses and universities. When the internet went public it was quickly discovered that the number of available IP addresses were not remotely sufficient to serve the needs of the entire world. In a massive lack of foresight (as government is best at), huge numbers of the “allotments” for IP space were given to a few large enterprises. Microsoft, IBM, DEC, MIT, AT&T, GE all own or control huge swaths of IP space they will never use. Anybody who has ever tried to get a few IP addresses to use for their new internet business probably found out pretty quickly there are several forms to fill out and then you cross your fingers and hope you are blessed by IANA or now ARIN.

It was much worse before private enterprise invented ways to effectively reuse the same IP’s for multiple sites and eliminated the need for non-servers to have public IP’s. If these activities hadn’t occurred, the IP space would have long since been fully utilized. It would be difficult, expensive and perhaps impossible to start a new internet business or even a website using a top level domain like yourname.com.  Without that ingenuity IP addresses would be like tobacco allotments, if you weren’t lucky enough to be born with one you would be locked out.

By setting limits on carbon emissions government will be creating a whole new allotments system. In addition, because they are setting the total allotments at a level lower than current usage, there will be extreme shortages of the allotments. The businesses that are currently set to receive the lion’s share of the allotments may literally divest themselves of productive divisions in order to focus on their new core business, the renting out of their carbon allotments. If you wish to start a business, you will have to find somebody willing to sell or rent you a carbon allotment. If you cannot find somebody to sell or rent the allotment, you will not be allowed to start or expand your business.  

I must admit, I fall into the same group as every other person on the planet, I haven’t read the entire bill either. We might assume initially there will be a limited set of businesses affected by the allotments. Maybe it won’t apply to a ranching business for example, so you can raise cows without an allotment. Of course there have been suggestions by the EPA of a cow tax but perhaps not yet. Maybe it won’t apply to babysitters, yet.

In the end allotments will be held by big business in much the same way must tobacco allotments are held by the big players.

Most economists, including the leftist economists, agree that small businesses are the source of almost all new jobs and growth in the economy. Cap and Trade will hamstring existing small businesses trying to grow and prevent the creation of new small businesses. It won’t matter if you have the better idea, higher quality product or faster service. Your big competitor may have excess carbon allotments because you have taken away his market share. He will be able to out-compete you by denying those excess allotments to you or by charging exorbitant rent for them.