Real Change, A Constitutional Convention

By now you’ve probably got the notion that the politicos in Washington have stopped listening to you and have settled in on the idea of keeping the power and status that goes with ‘serving’ our country. You also have learned that Washington believes that they know what is good for you, your family, your business, your livelihood, and your childrens’ education.

Paramount in every one’s mind today is the economy. As never before in our nation’s history and in world history, we no longer have just our economy sandwiched between two oceans living happily ever after. We are part of a global economy that is subject to the give and take, or if you will, the actions and reactions of industrialized nations around the world.

With that in mind, what we are hearing from Washington nowadays is that government spending of apocalyptic proportions is going to bring our economy around to recovery. And that couldn’t be more wrong. To think otherwise, you must assume that the government makes money and it is just spending the money it makes to help us. Fact is, the government only prints money, it doesn’t make a thin dime. The money the government uses is made by you and I. In fact, they have been spending money that we, our children, and our grandchildren haven’t yet made. The government gets it through taxation. They don’t make it, they take it. And they take it in ways that are punitive to those that create it, and in ways that hurt the most vulnerable among us. That would be the poor, and the means is the payroll tax. They take it so they can spend it in ways that will insure not only their re-election but their hold of power for power’s sake. NOT for the improvement of the economy.

As I said in the previous post, a lot of politicians will have to go into a 12-step program to wean themselves from of the old way of ‘control through taxation’ before real progressive change can take place in America. Question is, what will make them do that? Who will make them see the light? There is only one answer to this question. The people that elected them, you and I, are the ones who will proscribe it. First by electing like minded representatives. Second by pushing for a Constitutional Convention.

Georgia’s Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has planted the seed and Neal Boortz, co-author of the Fair Tax book and Fair Tax: The Truth, Answering the Critics, has expanded on it. This is the kind of change that I’m talking about. What follows is from Boortz’s website.

We need a Constitutional Convention called for the sole purpose of adding three specific amendments to the United States Constitution. The convention would consider these three amendments … and nothing further. Two-thirds of the States need to pass a resolution calling for such a convention, and those resolutions need to be specifically worded so as to limit the purpose of the convention to these three amendments. Without that limitation we’re going to have left-wing fools trying to add amendments guarantying such things as a right to a job, a place to live and health care. Not good.

So .. what are the three amendments? (You don’t listen to me all that much, do you?) Very simple …

1. An amendment to the Constitution repealing the 16th Amendment. What is the 16th Amendment? That would be the income tax. By repealing the 16th Amendment the Congress would be forced to come up with a new way of generating the revenue needed for the legitimate functions of our government.
2. An amendment repealing the 17th Amendment. The 17th Amendment calls for the popular election of U.S. Senators. Before the 17th Amendment each state legislature would appoint that state’s two Senators. The congressmen were in Washington to represent the people, and the Senators were there to represent the states. Right now the government of Mexico has an official representative in Washington; the government of New Mexico does not. This enables the federal government to run roughshod over the states with unfounded mandates and other federal demands. Give the state governments a voice in Washington .. repeal the 17th Amendment.
3. An amendment setting term limits for members of the House of Representatives. Give them three terms, then send them home. Yes, I know, there are some people we would truly like to keep up there to pursue some worthy objectives, but in the balance we’re hurt by those who spend taxpayer money to solidify their power than we are would be by sending the few good representatives home at the end of six years.

Now .. here’s the reality here. The Congress would probably never permit this Constitutional Convention to be called. As soon as they saw state legislatures passing the resolutions to bring these things to pass we would see the members of congress trying to beat the citizens to the punch. No … they’re not going to send the choice of Senators back to the states, and they’re unlikely to set term limits for themselves. But we might actually see some movement on the repeal of the 16th Amendment and serious consideration given to the FairTax.

Dreaming? Maybe so, but maybe not. Get the right grassroots organization formed to push this idea for a Constitutional Convention and you just might rattle some cages in Washington. Who knows? Maybe the people might start counting again.

Our Representative in Northwest Florida, Jeff Miller, is a supporter of the Fair Tax as a method of tax reform and economic recovery. We have to work on the others around the country and our Senators as well. For more information about The Fair Tax see the links below. The ‘grassroots’ is you and I. In Pensacola come join us and be part of the solution. Hit the Pensacola Fair Tax Meetup Group link below.

Answering Papantonio With The Fair Tax

Below is a ‘comment’ that I left to an article Mike Papantonio wrote in the Pensacola News Journal yesterday entitled ‘No choice but to spend our way out.’ Coming from an Air America talk radio host, that is just the sort of ‘fix’ one could expect from him. But it was also an opportunity for me to ad my two cents to promote The Fair Tax as a real solution to our economic problems. And below is my reply:

If the PEOPLE only had more money left to spend, it would help to turn things around. But if the GOVERNMENT spends our (and our children’s and our grand-children’s) money, it will simply make the hole bigger.Two things to remember, when you’re in a hole, quit digging. And, like Winston Churchill said, “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

So how do the people come to have more money? Don’t confiscate it via taxes, let them keep more of what they earn. Unfortunately, that won’t happen in today’s current political climate. CHANGE is what is needed. Changing how the government is financed, via the Fair Tax system, will go a long way in bringing us to economic recovery, creating jobs, business, investment, and savings.

But before that will happen, a lot of politicians will have to go into a 12-step program to wean themselves from of the old way of ‘control through taxation.’

It is a shame that today, President Elect Barack Obama is saying that ONLY THE GOVERNMENT can get us out of the current situation, through spending of epic proportions, and on programs that are not going to stimulate the economy, but instead will advance his campaign promises. The solution to the country’s problem is called The Fair Tax, where the people will have their own money to spend. Where the people will then choose, through the free market, who the winners and losers will be, rather than have it taken by THE GOVERNMENT to spend it elsewhere and on their special interests.

You can see where the 12-step program is needed. But don’t hold your breath for Barack and his Cabinet to sign up for it. It is up to you and I to remind the folks in Washington that they are supposed to represent us, not control us, and push us over the economic cliff with trillions and trillions of imaginary dollars, further weakening our economy.

Please share with us any letters to the editor or blog comments that you have written in support of The Fair Tax. See you at the next meetup. Tue. Jan 20, 7pm at Philly’s Cheesesteaks & Hoagies, 3900 Creighton Road.

Pensacola Fair Tax Advocates