12.12.01

There seems to have evolved a system whereby the government, by selectively not enforcing the law creates situations that enable it to reward itself with more taxes and more political power. For years the Clinton Justice Department drastically reduced the prosecutions of firearms law violations and thereby created a rise in such crimes which was used to justify the creation of new and far more restrictive laws and new taxes to increase the appropriate bureaucracies.

Again, with the terrorist situation, the Federal government has failed in its duty to enforce immigration law, failed to resolve numerous attacks on our foreign interests, failed in its duty to know what's going on in the world and failed to provide any contingency at all for biological attacks.

Yet after such an unconscionable display of ineptitude the flood of Executive Orders and Congressional Legislation that is pouring out of Washington gives the Federal Government vast new power, much of it at the expense of our Constitutionally Protected Rights. Apparently we have as much to fear from those who do not enforce our laws as we have from those who break them. Maybe a lot more.

The greatest dangers of this legislation are the precedents they establish; secret trials, suspension of habeas corpus, anonymous witnesses, warrantless searches, universal wiretaps and e-mail monitoring, the FBI is even seeking official sanctions to torture suspects for information. It may be argued that these acts deal with "terrorists" who seek to deprive others of all their rights, their very lives, and are therefore more of an immediate threat than an uncontrolled government. But from now on a "terrorist" is whoever the Feds say is one and the definition will become broad enough to include all but the most docile of Government livestock. Once established, the secret tribunals, classified evidence, juryless trials, hidden prisons and all the rest will become a political tool, that is to say, a weapon. That is why the Constitution clearly forbids the government to assume such a power over anyone.

There are dozens of local, state and federal laws that were broken by the most recent terrorists long before they were able to realize their goal, yet they went on about their business unhindered. One has to wonder if this was perhaps the goal of all those years of Federal Failure, to carefully allow a situation to develop that would inevitably result in the type of catastrophe that has historically been the inception of tyranny.

Certainly we need Law now, and Justice, but not the nascent fascism proceeding from the Capitol. What we need are Acts to further protect our Human Rights and to reinforce the laws that restrict the governments ability to assume unwarranted power over the citizens. The strength of the People is the measure of our greatness, not the strength of the Federal Government.

To this end I would propose addressing at least the following 6 issues.

Since money and power are different forms of the same idea you cannot really limit a governments political power without limiting their access to tax revenues, something the Framers of the Constitution understood well when they prohibited any direct tax upon the people. But the 16th amendment eliminated that protection and created the income tax by which they now have unlimited access to our earnings and resources.

By redistributing wealth to obtain votes, financing the ever increasing presence of government agents and creating endless programs to foster dependence upon the state they use our money to finance their acquisition of power over us. And we are compelled to make such a fatal investment. The 16th amendment should be repealed and the income tax and the IRS eliminated. A national sales tax would raise more than enough for all the legitimate expenses of government and put their revenue directly under our control. Money not spent would not be taxed which by itself could encourage enough saving to mitigate the Social Security disaster.

Secondly, the oath of office should be made legally binding. A line should be added to this oath specifying that the person will speak the truth for his or her entire term. It is against the law for the people to lie to the government, it certainly should be against the law for them to lie to us. They work for us, we pay their salaries, we demand honesty and we will have it. Be evasive, plead the Fifth, but don't lie to us. Ever. Any Federal Employee or elected official who takes an oath of office will be bound by it. Violation of this section would constitute perjury with a mandatory minimum sentence.

Third, all legislation presented in Congress and all Executive orders must reference the specific section of the Constitution that authorizes the action. No bill may ever be discussed or voted upon absent this information.

Challenging an unconstitutional act by the government can be very expensive. For this reason the fourth provision would state that if a law or any other action of the government is found to be unconstitutional the costs incurred by those who challenged it will be paid personally by those in congress who voted for the law or by those otherwise responsible for the unjust act. Three incidences of unconstitutional behavior while in any government capacity would constitute a felony with a mandatory minimum sentence.

Fifth, all positions within the government that are predicated upon party membership should be abolished. The strife and division caused within our legislative bodies by partisan concerns are a serious threat to good and efficient government. The Democrats, Republicans, and the rest are private entities, they are not public institutions. They have no more business dictating the workings of our government than any other big utility or corporation. It is logical that political parties would exist to consolidate the efforts of the electorate. But if elected one must leave all such influences behind. It is the individual that is elected, not the party.

Sixth, in an effort to restrain the burgeoning police powers of the Federal Government, no federal agency would have the authority to arrest an American citizen on American soil. Any such arrests must be carried out by State or Local Police forces with the Feds in attendance.

This policy would almost certainly have prevented the slaughter at Waco, among others. The FBI in it's original incarnation did not have arrest powers, they were investigators, not Federal Police officers. We do not need a domestic Federal Police Force and it is just as unwise to have more police than you need as it is to have less.

There are other issues to be addressed and the above is just a draft but I believe this is the direction we should be going in. We must not destroy the foundation of our country to construct a façade of safety. The most dangerous adversary is the one who can do you the most long term harm. I cannot imagine my grandchildren growing up ruled by third world terrorists, but an overwhelming government with spy satellites, super computers and contempt for Constitutional restraint, that is another matter.

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