Political Clarity

This article’s purpose is to try to rationally hash out the details of what should be a very open and shut case.

1.  Documentation

The new law does not give the Arizona law enforcement community free reign to pull over anyone just on the basis that they appear to be illegal.  The new Arizonan law requires law enforcement officials to inquire on the legal status of suspected illegals only during the course of regular law enforcement intervention, like a traffic stop.

The first step for the investigation is going to be for the law enforcement official to ask for some sort of document to prove the legal status of the individual.  What is the first thing a law enforcement official asks for at traffic stops or civil disobedience complaint?  Your identification, usually in the form of a driver’s license, is requested.  The reason that it is checked is to make sure you are licensed to operate the vehicle (if driving) and to check for any outstanding warrants.  Therefore the argument of, “It is unlawful to just say ’show us your paper’”, is totally invalid.  It already happens every time the police interact with someone.

If an individual cannot provide the documentation in the form of a state issued driver’s license or identification card, then further investigation will be warranted if there is a reasonable doubt regarding the status of the individual.  However to stress, the first thing required is the absence of state issued identification that citizens already carry.

If the individual does not have that form of identification because they are not in the country of their citizenship, the next reasonable thing to expect to see is a passport, visa, green card, or a guest worker pass.  If I were to travel in Europe, I would not have documentation as a German citizen, but I would most certainly have my passport on me.  If I were in the midst of an extended stay, I would certainly have a visa.  If I had emigrated from the US to a different country, I would assume that I would be in possession of some sort of transitional documents that gave my status.  The State of Arizona’s expectation that someone should have these documents is not illegal, it is the standard practice of the majority of the civilized world.

Thusly, it stands to reason that documentation is the first key variable of this equation.

2.  Reasonable Doubt

It seems that the automatic reaction by people who think of the assurance of the civil liberties of this country’s citizens are the paramount responsibility of the Federal Government (which they are) and our benevolent social arbiters, let’s call them the American Left, decry that the new law concerning immigration in Arizona is racist.  In a post modern world, we should be working towards not seeing colors at all.  I would argue that the new Arizona law is not racist, but linguistist.  Meaning, that the more discriminating factor in the new search for illegals will more than likely be their ability to communicate with the law enforcement authorities.

The new law just happens to be in a state with a large presence of illegal resident Mexican nationals, so the American Left automatically jumps to the finding of reasonable doubt based solely upon the race of the individual.  However, in a State with as large of a population of Mexican-Americans (be they legal, naturalized, or just plain Made in the USA), this is not practical to base the assessment solely on race.  Therefore an individual bereft of the documentation mentioned above presents the first variable in the reasonable doubt equation.

The second key variable in the equation is ease of communication, not race.  America is the “Melting Pot of the World”, and history has proved that many ethnicities have converged here.  When people immigrate to the US, within a generation or two, English becomes the primary language of the family unit.  Why?  This country deals in English.  Difficulty of an individual to converse with an officer is the second red flag, not race.  Color does not matter.  Ethnic Europeans, Africans, Asians, and Hispanics generally assimilate into the culture of the US and become Americans.  Those people have come for different reasons, but to do business in the country, English is usually the preferred medium, except in ethnocentric communities.

Therefore the ethnicity is not the next major determinant.  Communication is the determinant.  The law can be enforced upon those illegal resident ethnic Europeans, Africans, Asians, and Hispanics (including the ethnic Nahua people that we are being so sensitive about).

Again, let me stress, communication is the determinant for reasonable doubt.

3.  Unconstitutional

The unconstitutional portion of this new Arizona law is not the low hanging branch of perceived racism.  The new law is unconstitutional by violating Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the US Constitution, “[The Congress shall have the Power] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”.  It is the jurisdiction of the US Federal Government (and its agencies that enforce the laws enacted by its Congress) to regulate the Rule of Naturalization.  In other words, immigration is the province of the US Federal Government and not its Several States that constitute the members of its Union.

The law is unconstitutional because of a individual State’s usurpation of codified Federal jurisdiction.  Most of my readers know that I am a supporter of strict adherence to Constitutionalism and Federalism.  Therefore, it has to work both ways.  If a State expects the Federal Government to stay within its prescribed limits, then the State must also stay within its own prescribed limit as well.  The unconstitutional portion is not that the State of Arizona can detain a suspected illegal, but that they have given themselves the right to deport individuals.  Deportation is a function of the Immigration and Naturalization Service as directed by existing immigration legislation.  For example, recently passed Texas legislation states that Texas law enforcement officials can detain suspected illegals in the same way that Arizona has just sanctioned.  However, the State of Texas is not the institution that does the deporting.

4.  The Real Reason of American Left Outrage

The actual reason that the Left is mad is that they are losing another issue for indiscriminate (R)s to run on.  Indiscriminate (R)s can come out in support of the law and win elections.  Seeing as how 80% of the American public reacted in a negative manner rose up in arms against the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.  Indiscriminate (D)s know that this is an election topic that they cannot come out in opposition of, due to the growing Mexican-American constituency, whose communities will be most impacted in the State of Arizona by this law.  Indiscriminate (D)s and indiscriminate (D) supporters are more angry because they just caught with their pants down around their ankles on an issue where they are in the very extreme minority of public opinion.

My opinion is that indiscriminate (R)s and (D)s  can truly only kick the can to have this be a talking point.

5.  A Possible Solution

Reform immigration in this way, if you are intending to be a citizen of the US, come expecting to work.  If you are already here, working, and want to be a legal citizen, pay a fine for violating sovereign territory.  If you want to come here then come, become a legal citizen, and stay employed.  Check with the individuals 5 years after the date of their citizenship and see if they are still employed or if they are being productive in the community (barring accidental injury or unforeseen difficulties that cause an inability to work).  Immigration is solved, and the US Government has a brand new tax base to fleece.

Let’s not race-bait.  Just think things through logically.

Let me first, dear reader, apologize for not using this medium in so long a time.  I will address my absence from the blogosphere very briefly and then get on to business.  I last posted during the Tea Party melee.  My concern with posting is that I do not want to become another Sean Hannity in writing.  I can decry the Obama Administration as outright Marxist and their actions as illegal usurpations of Federal power, but beating a dead horse won’t make it run.  Also, the environmental firm that I work for has been preparing a substantial environmental document for a bridge replacement in Virginia Beach.  As we are a small firm, my time has been limited.  However, I have been mulling something over that warrants expression.

Double Standards

It is no secret that the majority of media coverage for the new Administration is outright fawning to put it nicely.  It seems that the attack dog mentality of news organizations got a dose of tranquilizers or anti-depressants.  I defy you to look at a news organization (besides Fox News, who I will address later) that is not operating as more than a mouthpiece for the President.

ABC and NBC have both been the recipients of “unprecedented access”.  The only stipulation for the access was to churn out propaganda.  NBC perpetuated the myth of the New Camelot.  ABC was asked to focus on pushing the Obama Administration’s agenda on health care.  The only reason that CBS has not followed suit is because their ratings are bad and their demographic is far older than who Obama needs to pitch to.

During the previous Administration, great strides were taken by most network news and print news to absolutely discredit every decision on foreign and domestic policies.  Nightly reports of how the Bush Administration had failed us in Iraq, had invaded the privacy of those who were suspected of general chicanery, had allowed for the collapse of all things economic, and that he was basically an idiot.  Well, he may be an idiot, but I don’t think that kind of coverage is bad.  However, I do think that news organizations have not been consistent with the new Administration.

The new purpose of the news media is to laud the Obama Administration at every turn and never criticize or scrutinize too harshly because he’s the new guy, or most likely, because he’s their chosen guy.  However, when there is good news on any policy that is a carryover from the Bush Administration, our “objective” media tend to not report it.  Iraq is being successfully reestablished as a Middle Eastern democracy by American support that has cost the lives of so many troops and it is not being reported anymore.  No longer do you see a troop count ticked across your TV screen as the lead story every night at 6:30 pm EST.

The economy is lagging and the stimulus of Presidents Bush (which Obama supported) and Obama have not served to re-invigorate our economy.  The simple fact is that America doesn’t produce any goods and is not going to have a basis on the world economic stage for too much longer.  Over-regulation and taxation of manufacturing industries makes it much more cost effective for companies to operate overseas and outsource what manufacturing that once was.  However, this is still Bush’s and the Neo-Cons’ fault in the eyes of the media.

The national debt is at present $11,397,711,606,020.00.  The cost of the Stimulus, Omnibus, proposed Nationalized Health Care, and a forthcoming budget under the Obama Administration is going to literally make the citizens of this country slaves to its propagation.  However, it is not reported and if it is, it is passed as a remainder of the mess that President Bush left.  We are being bankrupted by detached “leaders” and told to smile and take our medicine.  That’s not journalism folks, it is straight propaganda.

Now, some would say that the word propaganda is a little harsh.  I think it is exactly what the press has been up to since the emergence of Marxist theory.  While it is not expressed these days, or indeed thought to be relevant, most of the “objective journalists” are liberal/progressive/Marxist/ Socialist/Communist sympathizers that have slowly parlayed their positions as trusted journalists to mouthpieces for the indoctrination of free-willed Americans into Socialist minded simpletons who thrive off of pop-culture and believe that someone else should provide everything for you.

I think that the media has had its hand on destroying the American Psyche since before Vietnam.  Joseph Stalin once said, “America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.”  I think the “mainstream media” has been all too willing to oblige Stalin in those goals.

Thin Skin

Following up, a question was asked of President Obama what he thought of media coverage of his Administration.  He said, “First of all, I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration,” he added, chuckling.”  Its amazing to me that he would call out Fox News like that.  Honestly, every network but Fox News spent almost the entirety of the Bush Administration tearing the White House administration end from end.

Now a little scrutiny is rattling the President.  Under the First Amendment, the press is free, but just because only one outlet chooses to not be a mouthpiece doesn’t mean the media is biased.  The fact that every outlet but Fox News chooses to be a mouthpiece proves the presence of the bias.  I cannot see the logic in President Obama decrying one outlet that doesn’t want to be his mouthpiece when he already has ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC/MSNBC, NPR, PBS, and most print media to fill that role.

Toughen it up President Obama, for as Jerry Seinfeld once said, “How do you expect to make it in this town if you can’t take it?”  The buck stops with you now, President Bush isn’t in the equation anymore.  The blame game comes off as pretty juvenile.

Your predecessor allowed the press the proper and legal carte blanche to criticize, and criticize they did.  Now an outlet will not push the Commie rhetoric that you want, and you’ve got some complaints?  Deal with it.  The simple fact is that the split between Conservatives and Liberals is 40% to 21%.  Your goal is for the 35% moderates to be swayed by a non-stop blitz of your propaganda machine, and Fox News is not helping you.  Well, maybe you should incorporate the ideals of that 40% more.  Just because the majority of moderates swayed left due to a cult of personality, does not mean that the new American/Soviet Republic is what Americans truly want.

The whole affair reeks of a bit of a God Complex by the “Liberal Elites” in politics and journalism.  If they are so sure of what is better for us, let them go and live in countries that already adhere to their Utopian view.  Oh wait, there are none.  Therefore, I ask the question for your comments, is it Double Standards, Thin Skin, or Both?

Hello friends, I have not posted anything for a good long while.  I do apologize for that.  We are in the midst of drafting up a very lengthy and involved NEPA document for a bridge replacement in Virginia Beach at work.  Also, my wife has been home for a little over a month now, so I have been spending time with her.  Anyway, to business!

Today, April the 15th, is the always illustrious tax day.  This year, I have cause to celebrate.  The grassroots Tea Party movement has found a solid base and there are a good deal of demonstrations planned for today.  I think that this is a very symbolic move.  The Bostonians that participated in the first party were protesting a 10% luxury tax on tea.  Imagine what they would think about the current state of affairs.  Let’s examine them.

America is in debt.  We have been in debt for a while.  Instead of attempting to raise the country out of debt, the new Administration has opted to borrow more money from China.  This China-money is supposed to shore up the uncertain securities markets and infuse state and local levels with cash for various projects.  These are supposed to create jobs and get America rolling again.  The only problem is that one day we will be expected to pay the sums of money back and the Federal Government has to put itself in debt yearly just to operate at its “normal” levels.

The driving force behind the Democratic/Liberal/Obama/Communist system that America is now dabbling in is Social Justice.  The policy of Social Justice is a redistributive system that will take wealth from the wealthy and infuse it into the perceived “lower” classes.  This is accomplished through more stringent taxes for higher earning individuals.  This trickle-up economic structure is ultimately flawed.  The higher earners end up charging more for their goods and services to compensate for their loss due to taxation and the cost is passed down the line to the lowest level consumer.  Also, as businesses are taxed, employers lay off employees to make up the difference.  That is what has happened since President Obama’s intentions of higher business tax brackets have been announced.

Social Justice effectively subjugates a population to be dependent on wealth creating entities.  Now that the Federal Government is taking over more areas of the Private Sector, we are in real danger of being subjugated to the Government.

As a consequence, people who see this action as a wrong move for our nation are protesting at nationwide Tea Parties.  I know my dad will be at one.  I might swing by one if I can get there without taking off time from work.

What I find interesting is that the Department of Homeland Security, who won’t say the word terrorist or War on Terror anymore, comes out with a report that the situation in our country is ripe for “Right-Wing Extremist” activity.  Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security will deem these Tea Parties as Right-Wing Extremist demonstrations.

I cannot believe that the Federal Government of the Unites States of America regards the expression of one’s views and the ability to peaceably assemble as extremist action.  Wait a second, those two rights are protected under the United States Constitution.  Does that mean that me blogging and expressing my views pushes me into the “Extremist” camp?  The Federal Government under the Obama Administration is beginning to get very scary in how much they emulate the Soviets.

I guess that I am definitely an “Extremist”.  I believe in EXTREME things like the founding documents.  I believe in using reason instead of emotion when analyzing a situation.  I believe in a limited Federal Government as defined by the founding documents.  I believe that the Federal Government should not be an oppressive force upon its own people.  I believe that the Federal Government should not propagate a continual welfare state in order to boost its own jurisdiction in the private sector.  Does that make me as extreme as a Radical Islamic Terrorist?  Am I an extremist for reading the Founding Fathers’ intent for this nation and reasoning that we are far beyond our bounds?  The Founding Fathers took on the most powerful military force in the world over a 3% tax without having a say in the tax.  By that standard, I have not been Extreme enough.

If you believe in any of these things, if you believe in Liberty, I encourage you to look into how much of a Right-Wing Extremist you are.  I am a Libertarian, so I guess I am one by default.

To end this one up, I am going to tip my hat to Governor Rick Perry of Texas.  I don’t often sing the praises of Slick Rick because I saw him putting horns up on the steps of the Texas Capitol, which are the very same steps that he once led Midnight Yell Practice on.  However, Gov. Perry did approve the Resolution Affirming Texas Sovereignty Under the 10th Amendment of the United States of America.  You can find it below as a separate post.  I love the move.  We are Texas.  We voluntarily joined the Union as a recognized independent republic, and we have the legal option to leave and become the same again.  Texas and Texans believe in States’ Rights.  We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Thanks and Gig ‘Em Rick.

I leave you this to Enjoy.

81R5789                                                                                                                           MMS-F

By:  Creighton H.C.R. No. 50

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and

WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

I hope that everyone is having a terrific Mardi Gras!

It seems like 2008 might have been the most painful Ash Wednesday for our country.  To many people, 2008 was the joyous year of ascension for the current President of the United States.  If you were really attune to the economic crisis and it’s causes (phony mortgage backed securities, mounting debt, creation of fiat currency, China buying up our debt), you would have been experiencing a very painful hangover from some boom years.  The Republicans did let corporations run roughshod over markets and made no real regulatory changes.  I am inclined to agree with this philosophy.  However, the US Treasury continued to pour manufactured currency into fiscal markets.  The only problem is that the dollar has no intrinsic value.  One dollar is literally worth as much because the US Treasury and Federal Reserve say it is.  Our money is backed by China buying our debt.

Focus.  It’s not a Gold-Standard anymore.  It’s China-is-floating-us-a-huge-loan Standard.  This is a loan that the United States Government has absolutely no ability to pay down or pay at.  We’re still borrowing to “stimulate” our economy.  It’s an absolute disaster.  The reason that we are in such a mess is because President Bush could not get Social Security privatized.  The Socialist programs that are so lauded by the Left (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) are absolutely bankrupting us.  Not only are they bankrupting us, they are bankrupting my grandchildren.  With interest, we will not be able to pay down these loans.  Here’s a quaint little movie to illustrate the point.

http://www.iousathemovie.com/

What has basically happened through the guise of social justice programs is selling my children and their labors into bondage to a Communist country by America’s Left.  Kudos.  They’ll get me and mine in the end.

I think I touched on this subject a few posts ago.  The Communist conspiracy could not follow the same path in the United States as it did in Russia.  We had to be conditioned in the long term to believe that being ruled instead of governed was what being an American was all about.  Well, I will not be ruled.  I will use this medium like Rick Santelli used CNBC and tell the current Administration, the previous Administration, and Congress that there is no reason for these ineffective Socialist programs.  Cut them.  If they don’t work, cut them and try again.  Nobody can retire off of their Social Security checks anymore and Government run health care is going to be about as efficient as well, Government run anything.

It may sound insensitive, that I’m not thinking about the lives of the poor.  That’s horse-shit.  I give my personal money, at my direction, to those that I see as being in need, and having the promise to elevate themselves through whichever program I am donating to.  I do not need the US Government creating a nanny-state with my tax dollars.

So, what’s my cure for our current hangover?  Cut the big entitlement programs.  President Obama is going to cut military spending.  I think that that will prove to be a mistake in the long-run.  I don’t know if Liberals actually have the stomach to fight any war anymore.  If a situation like World War II were to happen now, I doubt that President Obama would be leading the charge to stop Hitler.  We would “engage in aggressive diplomacy”.

Markets are crashing because they see an end to the Free Market Era.  Other changes may be in the wind very soon.  I hope that we realize who we are as a people again and we focus on what documents that define the United States of America state.  My suggestion to those Liberals (i.e. Communists) who do not like the governing structure, you have five years to attempt to amend it.  If it’s not changed to your liking then and you want to live in that Socialist Utopia, no one says that you have to stay.  Leave, and try to find that ideal Socialist Utopia.  You may be looking for a long time though, and that’s evidence enough for me to come to the conclusion that it doesn’t exist.  I also think that by nature of humanity’s self-preservation instincts, it will never exist.

…But thanks for placing my future children and grandchildren into slavery to a Communist Regime.  Looks like all that plotting might just pay off.

My discussion this week will be short.  The 2009 Economic Stimulus is about to be passed by the Senate.  It will then go to conference committee and both houses will then approve the $850+ billion measure.  The stimulus is a mix of 42% “tax cuts” (which are no more than fiat checks) and 58% spending measures and it is a massive wrong move.

Hopeful proponents assert that the Stimulus will promote new government funded growth.  Employment rates will rise and the base level wealth will infuse the ailing economy with more domestic growth.  The pitfalls have been outlined by the Congressional Budget Office, which is non-partisan.  The CBO tells us that each new job will cost on average $250,000.  The main focus will be renewing infrastructure and retooling the medical insurance industry.  Personally, I would love to have a traffic flagging job that pays me $250,000.  However, I do not think that all of that money is going to go to the lowest man on the totem pole.

Addressing the current economic sluggishness requires harder choices than which pet project to throw money into.  The real answer has to come as a revamping of our current Federal Government’s perceived jurisdiction.  I am not going to harp on this point very much in this article, but the Federal Government is already vastly overextended past their Constitutional role.  The Federal Government was intended to be a peacemaker between states (who were intended to be independent nations unto themselves) and provide for the protection of common interests of all of these nations.  Think of it as a proto-unsocialised-European Union.  In our progress as an American people, power intended for State and Municipal governing units has been usurped and centralized in the Federal level.  At the time, this was done because only the Federal Government had the ability to operate on such massive scales.  With the initiation of our current society to the information age, this simply is not true anymore.  A present day American citizen has been conditioned to think that the Federal Government should have it’s current reach, if not longer.

State and Municipal governing units have as much of an opportunity to take on large scale problems within their jurisdiction.  What they don’t have is the means.  There lies the problem.  How do we tax people on top of how much the Federal Government already is to fund a laughable Social Security Ponsi Scheme that no longer provides a living wage for retirees and is just an excuse for taxation.  The solution and actual stimulus would be to privatize Social Security.  Encourage people to invest their money in accounts where they will gain returns and not fund $10,000 for a new broom in a Federal building.  Cut FICA.  Reduce the size of the Federal Government to its intended jurisdiction.  In the absence of the massive Federal tax, State and Municipal governments can come in and make up the difference and fund the appropriate measures to really help the economy recover locally.  This will lead to actual prosperity.

What this can really do is encourage businesses to come back to America.  We can again be a land of producers instead of a nation of outsourcing.  Why would you get taxed up to 40% of your income as a business when you could operate under a 12% tax rate in North Ireland?  Lower corporate tax rates and businesses will move their operations back to the States to get their products closer to their consumers.  This is prosperity.

My final knock against the impending stimulus is that history shows that they are largely ineffective.  Look at the New Deal or the Great Society.  The New Deal prolonged the Great Depression until wartime production started up.  The Great Society created the welfare state.  The TARP measure passed in September when it was so critical to get money into the market or we would all be doomed has been largely unsuccessful in its aims, and we are still alive.  This Stimulus that is so important for our immediate relief has been delayed longer than the Democrats intended and we are still here.  I think that fear mongering is what is fueling the impotence to push a Democratic wishlist bill that has been garnishing on their platform since 1994.  During Japan’s 1990s depression, they passed 8 stimulus bills that did nothing to help their economy.  It is obvious to anyone that is rational that Stimulus is not the answer.  We need to refocus.

I will leave you with the following, 21% of the American workforce works for the government.  Do we really need to let that number increase.  Is the centralization of all labor and power what the framers intended for this great land or is this all partisan nonsense?

Think about it.

HCR 6 – AS INTRODUCED

2009 SESSION

09-0274

09/01

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 6

A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

SPONSORS: Rep. Itse, Rock 9; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Comerford, Rock 9; Sen. Denley, Dist 3

COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs

ANALYSIS

This house concurrent resolution affirms States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

09-0274

09/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 1, Article 7 declares that the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled; and

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 2, Article 1 declares that the people inhabiting the territory formerly called the province of New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign and independent body-politic, or State, by the name of The State of New Hampshire; and

Whereas the State of New Hampshire when ratifying the Constitution for the United States of America recommended as a change, “First That it be Explicitly declared that all Powers not expressly & particularly Delegated by the aforesaid are reserved to the several States to be, by them Exercised;” and

Whereas the other States that included recommendations, to wit Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, included an identical or similar recommended change; and

Whereas these recommended changes were incorporated as the ninth amendment, the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, and the tenth amendment, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people, to the Constitution for the United States of America; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, — delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress; and

That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force; and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each within its own territory; and

That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people;” and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same. And that in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press:” thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press: insomuch, that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, and that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, all acts of Congress of the United States which do abridge the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are not law, but are altogether void, and of no force; and

That the construction applied by the General Government (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress a power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” and “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof,” goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution: that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of that instrument: that the proceedings of the General Government under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary subject of revisal and correction; and

That a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States; to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and union which it has manifested from that moment at which a common danger first suggested a common union: that it considers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly to those specified in their federal compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States: that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation: that it does also believe, that to take from the States all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these States; and that therefore this State is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the General Government, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non foederis), to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them: that nevertheless, this State, from motives of regard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communicate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, and subject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its powers were all created and modified: that if the acts before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow from them: that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism — free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power: that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no further, our confidence may go. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this State does therefore call on its co-States for an expression of their sentiments on acts not authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as to prove their attachment unaltered to limited government, whether general or particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur with this State in considering acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undisguised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers of the General Government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all powers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the States, not merely as the cases made federal, (casus foederis,) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against their consent: that this would be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories; and

That the said committee be authorized to communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any times or places whatever, with any person or person who may be appointed by any one or more co-States to correspond or confer with them; and that they lay their proceedings before the next session of the General Court; and

That any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America. Acts which would cause such a nullification include, but are not limited to:

I. Establishing martial law or a state of emergency within one of the States comprising the United States of America without the consent of the legislature of that State.

II. Requiring involuntary servitude, or governmental service other than a draft during a declared war, or pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

III. Requiring involuntary servitude or governmental service of persons under the age of 18 other than pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

IV. Surrendering any power delegated or not delegated to any corporation or foreign government.

V. Any act regarding religion; further limitations on freedom of political speech; or further limitations on freedom of the press.

VI. Further infringements on the right to keep and bear arms including prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition; and

That should any such act of Congress become law or Executive Order or Judicial Order be put into force, all powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States shall revert to the several States individually. Any future government of the United States of America shall require ratification of three quarters of the States seeking to form a government of the United States of America and shall not be binding upon any State not seeking to form such a government; and

That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the house clerk to the President of the United States, each member of the United States Congress, and the presiding officers of each State’s legislature.

The point has been raised that I needed to be more frequent in my posts. I will attempt to post at least once a week when I have relevant commentary. That being said, most of my attitude towards American Politics this week has been antipathy. However, there are some interesting things happening.

Congressional Republicans are developing a spine again. Instead of hoping that Democrat Lite will win them elections, maybe they will indeed fall back to their laurels of being the party of fiscal restraint. They recognize that this “Stimulus Bill” in its current form is not actually that at all. This is a bill of long awaited Democratic Pork Projects. Now that there is a Democratic President to go with a Democratic Congress, they figure that it is time to realize their dreams come true in one bill. They can pass the bill without any Republican support. They don’t actually need it. However, they want a few Republicans to cross the aisle on this. They need to say that there was a bipartisan vote in favor of the bill. I think that this bill is incredibly unpopular with the American public, as is evident by 11 House Democrats voting against it also. It is smart for the Republicans to oppose this bill for reasons other than instituting Socialism in the US. When the outcry against this massive purveyor of debt comes around near election time, they will be the people who voted against it.

I will not outline the bill in this medium, but here is the bill as it was submitted in the House.

The new President had a whirlwind first week dolling out five Executive Orders. If this pace is kept up, we may be seeing the birth of a tyrant. These particular orders are all meant to reel American foreign policy from the Cowboy Diplomacy of the previous Administration.

I guess we just need everybody to like us again. What are we in middle school? Our “place in the world” is pretty damn secure without thinking of what people in London, Paris, Rome, and Mecca think about us. Let’s have a comparison. If I’m in a room with 250 other people. I don’t care what any of them think of me. There is only one person in the entire world of 6-7 billion that I do care what their opinion of me is. I just want my wife to like me at the moment. The rest of you, it’s nice if you do but it doesn’t define me. Now just think about this, the most influential country is supposed to worry what the Cook Islanders think about them. If I were in government, I would not be worrying about how people in the UN building felt about us. I would be cutting corporate tax rates so that it would actually be advantageous for manufacturing to occur within our borders. We are slipping as a superpower, but it isn’t because of Cowboy Diplomacy. It’s because we are a nation of consumers rather than producers. That is when empires fall.

It is truly a historic day in the story of The United States of America.  I think it shows great progress for our country that the first African-American has been Inaugurated as the President of the United States.  It makes me feel that we are becoming a place where color, gender, creed, or orientation is not what defines the American people, but content.  This past election cycle, the content that was elected is admittedly not my preference.  However, I do look forward to my children being raised in the society of equality that I envision.

As for content, the Inaugural Address contained not so thinly veiled promises of collectivism, communism, and a weakening of our National Security efforts.  I will continue to speak out against policies that are clearly not within the bounds of the US Constitution.  I wish President Obama good luck in his coming four years, I hope that he gives an actual ear to policies of fiscal restraint.  I think that it won’t happen, so if nothing else, I will be guaranteed to have fodder to opine on for the length of this President’s administration.  I again leave you with the words of John Wayne, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my President.  I hope he does a good job.”

I will readily admit that my personal site usually rails against the policies of America’s Left.  However, I want to turn my focus on the outgoing rather than the incoming in this article.  I voted for George W. Bush in the 2004 election cycle.  I did not vote for him in the 2000 cycle because I was too young at that time to vote.  During each cycle, I supported him as the lesser of the two evils presented to the American voter at that time.  Al Gore had his lock box and John Kerry had botox.  I never felt like they were being honest though.  Perhaps it is a true testament that America is a Center-Right country when the Democrats have to back pedal towards more Populist stances instead of preferred Liberal agendas. 

I’m sure that you along with me have seen the “How will history view the Bush the 43rd?” stories from media outlets.  This morning while sluggishly getting ready for work, I watched Morning Joe.  On the program this morning, Joe Scarborough was defending the outgoing President with a sincere argument that maybe torture is justified because we have not been domestically attacked since September 11, 2001.  Paraphrasing his opinion, perhaps the ugly pill for Americans to swallow was the right pill for the right time.  The entire time, co-host Mika Brzezinski sat by trying to interrupt and rolling her eyes.  This is not the first time I’ve seen Ms. Brzezinski treat the mere utterance of approval of President Bush with such disdain.  She inhibits one of the classic cases of “Bush Derangement Syndrome”.  Not as severe as the prime-timers on MSNBC, but enough to make my morning commute sour until I crank on some Honky Tonk Kid.  Today, I will be reviewing the Hits and Misses of George W. Bush in all honesty.

The War on Terror

We have been safer since September 11th.  American authorities have uncovered and subverted plots by terrorists to harm American lives.  Now traditionally this broad topic can be used to incorporate a few different blemishes on the Bush record, so let the good times roll.

• The War in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) is the only war that you’ll see a Democrat support.  We should have been more focused on capturing bin Laden in the Hindu Kush.  Steps are taking place now to redeploy a troop surge into Afghanistan to reclaim territory from a resurgent Taliban.  Did the administration distract itself from what should have been our primary goal by opening up a secondary front?  Yes.
• The War in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) is what it is.  The entire operation is very unpopular with the vocal American Left.  They opposed that we depose a dictator that violated human rights, violated UN resolutions to allow weapons inspectors to do their jobs, attempted a genocide of the Kurds, would not allow free-elections, repeatedly threatened it’s neighbors, and did I mention the 19 UN resolutions that he violated?  If the UN is going to make a resolution, it should stand up and back it up.  What good is the resolution otherwise?  What is the crime in the main financial backer of the UN (the United States of America) enforcing that body’s resolutions if the body itself will not?  In my opinion, the Iraq War was ill-timed, but the absolute right thing to do.
• Torture became a bone of contention.  Apparently Americans are happy to see torture on and by American agents on fictionalized spy shows and movies like 24 and Alias.  However, if it takes place in real life, we start getting squeamish.  I think that President Bush summed it up well in his last press conference while in that office.  He surmised that if his administration had done nothing and we were attacked again, there would be outcry by the media that he didn’t do all he could to protect the citizenry of America.  Therefore, by acquiring information, sometimes under duress, we got the job done to keep us safe.  From me, Thank You G. W.
• Guantanamo Bay, Cuba holds a detention facility for foreign terrorists.  Many in the American Left see Bush’s massive usurpation of the Constitution is not granting the detainees the Rights described in the Constitution.  First of all, these detainees are not American citizens and thusly have no rights under our Constitution.  However, it may be a mistake to not include them in the Geneva Convention.  Under that agreement we could not forcibly acquire intelligence from the detainees.  That’s a hard call to make with positives on both sides.  No torture or foiling a plot to enact another major terrorist act?  If you read the list of confessions on Wikipedia under Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, then I’ll let you make the call on whether or not it was a good thing to aggressively interrogate him.
• Wire tapping people that were connected with suspected terrorist organizations without a warrant is where I sit in the middle of the teeter-totter.  The Constitution precludes any unlawful investigation without the investigating party to possess a warrant.  Do we stop gathering real-time intel in a real-time world with an antiquated system for obtaining warrants?  No, I think that setting up a special court in which to acquire these warrants was justified.  However, there should be more transparency.  I don’t want to know everything, I just want to know that there is no power being abused, and I think that’s where the mistake was made.  There was just no degree of transparency.
• “Mission Accomplished” was the aircraft carrier’s banner for completing their deployment.  I don’t think I would have had it up in my shot.

The Economy

In this arena, President Bush acknowledged a departure from his own (and Constitutional) ideology.  I think that I have outlined the Constitutional stance enough to blow down the house of bricks of the last little pig.  Government interference in markets is a horrible idea.  It’s that simple.  Whether it be bailout, stimulus, or loans, they are all bad ideas that create fiat money and push problems to compound into a horrible situation down the road.  We’ve done that, we need a correction.  It hurts, but let the correction happen.

Education, Social Security, Health-Care, Immigration

• It is not in the Federal Government’s enumerated power to regulate a child’s education.  That is a power that is under statewide jurisdiction.  Even though it was basically the Texas system of standardized testing expanded, it should not be funded on the Federal Level.
• I loved his ideas for privatizing Social Security and it’s a damn shame Democrats didn’t want to get their cash cow taken from them.  The system is so broken that it does not provide a sensible retirement plan.  I don’t plan on using it for more than just monthly beer money.  An individual should be smart enough to set themselves up for success.  Roth IRA, diversified, with an approximately 12% yield from $4000/year for 40 years puts me at around $1.5 million at 65.  Can’t even come close with Social Security.  You do the math.  Social Security is just a crutch to tax the public now anyway, FAIR TAX!
• The Prescription Drugs and Medi-care Initiative was formed while I was in high school and thusly still invincible.  I’m sorry that I haven’t paid that much attention to it in any of my pieces.  It seems to me that there was an attempt to make it easier for people to get medication without socialising (i.e. destroying) our medical system.  More than I can say for the Democratic plan for disaster.
• President Bush stated that he wished he would have pushed stronger for immigration reform.  There is just a lot that is going to have to be hammered out in this debate.  All I will say until then is this, illegal immigrants are not citizens and are not subject to the same protected Rights that United States citizens are.  That means that there should be no due process or introduction of them into our court systems unless they have committed heinous felonies.  Catch them, deport them, prevent them from entering again illegally.  Guest worker program?  Great!  Just get it on the up and up.  You want to be an American now that you’ve lived here for 10 years?  Awesome, but we are going to make you jump through a few naturalization hoops, then get those dodged taxes out of them through processing fees.

Hurricane Katrina

• As I’m wrapping this up, I cannot help remembering Kanye West stating that, “George Bush hates black people.”  I don’t agree, and if you look back on history, the Republican Party as a whole has done more to advance people of all color in the lauded pursuit of happiness.  There is no guarantee.  If you work hard, you will get rewarded.  Take a look at the (?) letter behind the name of Abraham Lincoln or the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (before he became a Communist sympathizer) and you’ll generally find an (R).
• Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.  Well, that’s easy to say.  All hurricanes are caused by warming.  Every cloud is caused by warming.  Hurricanes and typhoons are natural systems to cool their respective hemispheres during the time when they are closer to the sun.  As I’ve said before, climate changes.  I’d be more interested in us cooling off than warming up.  There will be less space either way, but you can either wear more clothes or less or have cities covered in 500 feet of water or a mile of ice.  Take your pick.
• The horrible response time falls on more than just FEMA’s shoulders.  The structure in Louisiana at the time was atrocious.  There was absolutely no way that the operation could have gone any better.  I literally watched a History Channel program a week prior to Katrina and it accurately predicted how inept the recovery would be.  You have corrupt leaders at local and state levels, and nothing is going to be done.  Case in point, Texas got the snot kicked out of them by Ike this year.  I guarantee they are already farther along in almost everywhere but Bolivar, the West End of Galveston, and Surfside.  Also take into account that these areas were also well past recovery from Rita.  A competent state and municipality in conjunction with the Federal government gives  recovery a chance to start immediately rather than a full-scale evacuation after the fact.  Also, channelizing the Mississippi River was one of the US Army Corps of Engineers biggest mistakes, but it was made almost 100 years ago.
• “Now Brownie, you’re doing a hell of a job.”  Maybe he was doing the best with what he had available, but it just was not the right thing to say at the time.

Now President Bush is going back to Crawford (the lucky jerk) to work around the house, write a book, and set up a library/school.  He’ll get away from the media who hates him for a few years, but they’ll drag his name through the mud for a long time.  Why?  He was the first President in a Socialist-centric media, that has the widest range of outlets in the world’s history, that they disagreed with.  I wish him good luck and wish that he still drank so that we could go grab a beer one day to a job well done for the more than 50% of the time.