Intent vs. Interpretation: What did they mean and why don't we get it?

Contemplating the intent of the founders who formed the Constitution, I find myself looking beyond the words to the interpretation of what the founders meant. Instead of reading the document in the light it was written, trying to decide what it means for us today. It is my belief that this is exactly the process that has driven this Country away from Constitutional principles and towards tyranny. The Constitution, it appears, was not designed with the intent of interpretation. The Constitution was written as a set of clear, inescapable tenets of governmental restraint.

Our current government exceeds its Constitutional role at almost every junction. The federal government exerts more control than ever and has continued to grow with each administration. It is this same set of issues that existed during the American revolution. Thomas Jefferson said that the best prevention of an oppressive government is the belief that the people will rise up against it. Today, our government has no concern with regard to the will of the people. In November, we must send a clear message to the incumbent leaders in the house and senate. That message, you have failed to listen and now we are removing every single one of you.

I will be focusing the next several blogs on Constitutional rules and amendments that have either been interpreted in contrast to their intent or blatantly obfuscated by the members of our government. The next blog will focus on the 2nd amendment and what the founders themselves said in reference to the right to bear arms.

Don

The political giants met yesterday and made it NO WHERE!!!

Yesterday, President Obama and the leaders of the House and Senate met in an open, televised forum to discuss the healthcare agenda. While I applaud the transparency of this effort, the total lack of forward progress is not lost on me. Based on what I saw yesterday, the dems are no closer to the middle than the republicans are. The basic problem is completely invisible to the Washington elite.

The government need to get out of healthcare all together. There is NO GOOD PLAN besides returning control to the free market. The basis for nationalized healthcare is that more people will have access to lifesaving care. The fact is that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor act or EMTALA already ensures that for every person in our Country legally or illegally. Currently the brunt of those costs are passed on to the consumer in health care costs. Why would you think that adding additional burdons would cost less.

President Obama is proposing a 2.5 TRILLION dollar plan. In the event you can not visualize one trillion dollars, take a dollar bill and lay it flat on the ground, then stack dollar bills on top of it until you have a 62 mile high column. That is one trillion. When and how do you think we can pay for this.

Thomas Jefferson said the following in reference to national debt; "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for[ another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression." Thomas Jefferson

This is as simple as it gets. We need our Country back now.

Don

CPAC identifies Libertarian as "best" candidate for 2012

This weekend at the largest meeting of ultra-conservatives, Ron Paul was identified by the majority of those in attendance to be the best candidate for President in the 2012 election. The reason this is important is that the hands down favorite of the media to be the right-wing candidate was Mitt Romney. Romney is very conservative both fiscally and socially and the identification of Ron Paul as the favorite is a clear indication that people want less government period.

Most conservatives are all for small government where business and fiscal policies are concerned, but the republicans want the government much larger when it comes to legislating morality. Liberals are the opposite, the want small government where social liberties are concerned but are all for big government programs and redistribution of wealth. Both parties are out of touch and completely clueless that they are facing a complete anti-incumbent election cycle in 2010.

I agree with the sentiment of most of the Country. We should vote every single incumbent out of office and replace them with people who will vote for congressional term limits and a smaller government from all perspectives. The congress and house of representatives should be filled with people who are there to serve the interest of the people. Career politicians are without exception corrupt and have lost touch with reality. A great example is Charlie Rangel who is in his 40th year in congress. This MUST end. Make sure you vote this November and get these corrupt, special interest serving career politicians out of office.

Don

Substantive debate

It would be nice occasionally to see a politician clearly establish a position. I have come to the conclusion that these people can talk at great length without ever actually saying anything. I would like to hear where a person stands on the topics that matter to me as opposed to all of the quote popular issues. Partisan politics is based on the process of dividing people on issues that are emotional rather than substantive. Examples include abortion rights, gay marriage, and other emotional hot buttons.

I would like to see the emotional issues set aside at least temporarily to look at the legitimate, fiscal and social questions that impact American society. We need to know what the government is going to do about reducing the burden of debt and increasing individual responsibility. We need to know when our troops are coming home and when we can count on the government to return to the people the rewards of their own industry.

I am calling on all politicians to get to the business of telling the truth on the areas that matter most. Morality needn't and shouldn't be legislated. Small government and more responsibility will mean a better Country for everyone.

Don

Cheney vs. Biden: The Sunday Showdown

Interesting Sunday morning political shows yesterday. Both the current and past Vice-President went on to talk about which administration had done the most on the war on terror and made the most progress on the middle east conflicts. Cheney proposed that the Bush administration deserves credit for the success in Iraq and the current administration is soft on terrorist. Of course, Biden stated emphatically that the ":victory" in Iraq is because of the current administration and the treatment of terrorist is no different under the current or former administration.

Clearly, this is politics as usual. Bottom line is that we should not be in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is no clear or present danger to the United States of America by either of those countries. I propose that we pull out all of our troops immediately and allow these countries to settle their own differences. Using the lives of Americans and American troops as a political pawn is simply disturbing.

Terrorist should be treated as any other enemy combatant. They are not Americans and are not afforded the same rights as Americans. We should not spend a single American dollar to provide defense to those who would do us as a Country harm. The concept of "human rights" does NOT trump the protection of the American people. There is a point where we as a Country have to realize that the people who we would afford rights are the same people who will kill innocent civilian Americans given the chance.

We have to hold the people we capture accountable for their intentions and actions. There must be a clear message to those that would try to harm America will meet swift and sure justice. That justice should be metted out by the military court system and only after all attempts to obtain valuable information have been exhausted. This does include enhanced interrogation techniques.

Take the politics out of protecting our Country and do what is right for the American people. That is THE primary purpose of the federal government.

Donj

People have asked.. so here they are

I have had people ask what my stance is on certain issues. Many of the issues are self evident in my writings but for the benefit of clarity, I will list several issues here and what I believe. Truly and simply freedom and liberty are the foundation for my beliefs so here are some of the issues.

Same Sex Marriage - I do not believe the government has any role in deciding what marriage is or is not. Simply if there is a faith based organization willing to recognize marriage then it should be recognized as any other marriage is recognized. Marriage is not a legal but religious institution.

Role of the Military - I believe that we should have an all volunteer military that has the clear obligation of protecting our country. I do not believe that the United States military should be engaged in the civil wars of other countries, nor do I believe that we should be the international police force. We should bring all of our military men and women home to do what they are constitutionally charged with doing, protecting our borders and our Country from all threats both foreign and domestic.

Legalization of Drugs, etc. - There is a fundamental component to this argument that has to be clear in advance. The right of a person to determine what they want to do with or to their body is their right. The decision to do harm to themselves, whether it be with alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, fatty foods or whatever, it is still an individual right. See responsibilities below

Role of the Federal Government - The simple description of the federal government by the Constitution is the blueprint of my beliefs. Government is best when it is closest to the people. In other words, the balance of power should be to the states and local governments. The federal government is responsible for protecting it's people and ensuring interstate cooperation.

Government Health care - Simple, not a government responsibility. The current health care problem is primarily because of the government involvement. Regulation, the intrusion of medicare and medicaid, support for trial lawyers and severe restrictions on the ability of insurance companies to apply large market principles are crippling the free market for health care. Quality is driven by the free market and the free market MUST regain control of the health care industry.

Personal Responsibility - With every right, comes responsibility. No country can have both liberty and socialism. There is no way to have a truly free people if the government is engaged in social saviorism. If you take from one to give to another, you have killed freedom and liberty. So simply, an adult must be responsible for their decisions. If they decide to do things that are harmful to them physically, then they must be responsible for the outcome. If someone decides not to pursue higher education, then the resulting lower quality of life is their responsibility.

Widows, Children and the Disabled - A common argument to the personal responsibility belief is what about those who cannot take care of themselves. We as a people, NOT the government must engage in the support of those unable to care for themselves. When called upon, the people of this Country ALWAYS have come together to send aid and money to wherever it is needed.

Taxes - Make this easy, takes should be fairly applied to all adult Americans. First, government must reduce spending or there will never be true tax reform. Secondly, a flat, fair tax of all Americans and businesses that is not wrought with loopholes and deductions. Both people and businesses can operate more efficiently with fixed costs. This is true also of the government. Also, in case there is any doubt, STOP BORROWING MONEY TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT!

These are just a few of the hot button issues that have come up when people ask me what I believe. If there is any question on any issue, simply apply the following; if there is no Constitutional basis for it, then it should not exist. This applies to every program, policy and law that comes to the government.

Don

Back to basics

I thought today I would focus some time on some simple things that we as a people could do today to help move our Country back towards the Constitutional foundation on which it was founded. Do what you will but please do something. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Write an actual paper letter to your Congressman, Senator, the President, or any elected official. Tell them what you think and how you want them to vote.

2. When asked, tell people what you really think. There is no place for "political correctness" in today's world.

3. Do your part to help who you can, when you can. Help prove that we as a people and not a government can and should take care of each other.

4. Do not, under any circumstances, belittle or berate someone who is different than you in any way. I mean ANY way. That includes everything you can think of. We are all human and are endowed certain inalienable rights by our creator. Those rights include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whatever that happiness may be derived from.

5. Do not think that your rights outweigh the rights of others. This is the basis on which socialism and communism are founded that the right of one outweighs the rights of another. Whether good or bad, everyone is equal. Taken at face value, this concept is fundamental in a capitalist society. Your right to wealth cannot be outweighed by another persons right to be choose poverty.

6. Remember always that what you have and what you are is NOT the product of circumstance but IS the product of what you have done with the circumstances you have been given.

7. Lastly, there is always a choice, always a decision point. These choices over a lifetime shape a person. The choices made determine the life that a person will live, good or bad. Every adult is a product of their choices.

There is no easy fix to today's societal issues. There is no political party that will make everything better. It is up to each and every individual to decide to always do the right thing and the right time for the right reason without regard to what others are doing.

Don

The INHERITED budget deficits... fact or ???

Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011. In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases. For FY 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office.

At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets. And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009.

Let's remember what the deficits looked like during that period:

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack
Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself. In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is, "I inherited a deficit that I voted for, and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th."

Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling

This is one for the books. Talk about a double standard. I cannot even believe what I am reading so I am going to just let you read the Wall Street Journal article detailing the unbelievable double standard that our illustrious President has undertaken. Here is the article, just copy and paste into your browser and read this one...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166

How about we do some drilling of our own and get out from underneath the thumb of all the oil producing countries in the world.

AMAZING

Don

Personal Responsibility is not a FOUR LETTER WORD

I was contemplating yet another set of Government programs that are designed to prop up yet another subset of Americans and decided that there is a good solid argument for natural selection. Before anyone accuses me of being anti-something, please understand that I believe in helping people who because of disease or disability are UNABLE to care for themselves. I also feel that this is the responsibility of the people and not the government.

Back on the subject of natural selection. This is a theory proposed by Charles Darwin that simply accounts for survival of some species over the extinction of others. The theory suggests that those who are strong enough do survive and those who are not, do not. While this seems like an insignificant enough theory in politics, I will argue that the process of natural selection is being circumvented and creating a weaker species of humans and very well lead to our eventual extinction.

Take for instance the third and fourth generation welfare families; if the first generation had instead been forced into earning a living than being handed one, they would have passed those ethics on as opposed to the entitlement mentality of their subsequent generations. I am suggesting that by redistributing wealth that we as a nation are creating sluggards. We have taken away the incentive towards industry and by doing so have pushed that industry outside of our borders.

If the labor unions and big government proponents would learn anything from nature it is that as you ease the burden of work from generation to generation, you weaken the species. As human beings, we are systematically being weakened by our own programs. We give to the poor and they learn to stay poor because there is reward in laziness. We tax and take away from the industrious and they then reduce their productivity because there is no reward in it.

Human being will become extinct and it will be because we are no longer the fittest. Not because we could not be but because we choose not to be. By all accounts, every nation that has attempted to equalize the masses has failed and every empire has fallen.

Before even the Constitution, the Holy Bible dealt strongly with those who were not productive. In the parable of the talents, Jesus told of three servants whose wealthy master entrusted them each with talents according to their ability. To one he gave five talents, to another two and to the last he gave one talent. Upon his return the master called his servants to him and asked what they had done with their talents. The one he gave five, invested wisely and earned an additional five, the one he gave two also doubled his. To these servants he lauded praises and additional responsibility for all the days of their lives. The third, we will call him a liberal, knew that his master had made his money by reaping where he had not sown and gathering where he had not laid down and he was afraid of his master. As a result, he took the one talent that was given him and buried it so that it would not be lost.

The last servant, knowing that the master made money on his money still did not invest this angered his master. For his laziness, he was stripped of the one talent he did have and it was given to the servant with now ten talents and the other was sent away never to be in the sight of his master again.

Just like 2000 years ago and even 200 years ago, there is clear evidence that everyone must be productive to survive. We must demand personal responsibility of our fellow man. It is not the governments job to bail out every failure. Let them fail, personal or business. Where they leave off, someone or some other business will succeed. If people are held responsible, its not to late to reverse the trend of entitlement that is crippling the United States.

Tell your elected officials that you have had enough of entitlement programs and you want the government back to the limited size dictated by the Constitution.

Don

Economic Recovery... HUH

So the office of the White House is claiming victory on the war on unemployment as the percentage of unemployed has dropped to 9.7% in the most recent numbers. This would seem like a good thing if it wasn't total crap. The numbers they are claiming are a victory only account for those who receive unemployment benefits. Those who have exhausted their benefits or who do not qualify for unemployment are not included. The real unemployment numbers can be seen indirectly in the number of mortgage foreclosures,auto repossessions, credit card write offs and the decreases in consumer spending.

These days are dire and there must be an accounting for the failures of our government to do what is necessary to sustain us as a country. These things that are required are simple in nature and the right thing to do. First and foremost, there MUST be a drastic reduction in federal spending. As a follow up to decreasing spending, there MUST be a drastic reduction in personal and business taxes to allow for real economic growth. The job of the federal government is to protect our borders from invading armies and to ensure the freedoms of we the people. This does NOT include feeding the poor, providing healthcare to everyone, redistributing wealth from the industrious to the lazy or regulating businesses into failure.

I am calling on everyone to take a stand for your freedom. Stand up and be recognized as a free man or woman in a country founded on the principles of individual liberty as well as individual responsibility. Hold your government to account and ensure that they know that you are not interested in more of the same tax and spend policies that have been perpetuated by both parties. Tell your government that you do not believe that businesses or people are too big to fail and that the free market society and a free people are the fundamental building blocks of the United States and you want a return to that simple yet elegant time.

We need to send a clear message to the government that is is time for CHANGE but not the kind the progressives are looking for. We need change to a simpler and more fundamental structure that requires less from the government and more from individuals. We are a free people and we are seeing those freedoms systematically reduced. It is time to say NO.

Don

Healthscare 2010

So all the king's horses and all the king's men do not appear to be interested in passing the king's agenda before the midterm election cycle. It is as if the aggressive need to push through "some kind of" health care reform is being rethought by those who might need a job in November.

The Massachusetts "mishap" as it is being termed is the loudest voice in the crowd since the beginning of the President's term. All the TEA parties and all of the town hall meetings that supposedly were simply "right wing nuts" turned out to be pretty much "on the money". The backpedaling that is taking place now is almost too fun to watch. Even the Repubs that had supported some of the health care initiatives are quietly fading into the background.

Here is what I propose, GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE!!! Come November and in the next election cycle as well, whatever you do, do NOT vote for an incumbent. Find the person that is furthest from the Washington, inside the beltway, career politician and vote for them. Make sure that they value the liberties and freedoms espoused in the Constitution and send a clear message that we the people want our Country back.

Health care is dead, Cap and Trade is dead, the Stimulus failed and the new budget is atrocious. Obama is a one-term nightmare that will not be over soon enough. Do not give him the power to entrench us further into debt and entitlement. Vote out the politicians and vote in folks who want term limits in the Congress and are interested in the well being of the Country not just their political careers.

Don

The President has released the 2011 Budget... dig deep

President Obama released his 2011 budget this week with the audacity to believe that we as a people can stomach another 1.4 TRILLION with a T dollars of deficit spending. When is this going to end. We continue to hear the same rhetoric from both sides of the aisle, that we can spend our way out of the "recession". DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID!!!

There is only one way to create jobs, stabilize our economy and reduce national debt to pre-Bush years; Stop big government. We must stand up as a people and demand accountability for every dollar. We must take a rigid stance in the upcoming election to remove from office any one who supports government spending. The fact is, if we cut taxes, support industry and small business by reducing regulaton and encouraging growth, the recession will end and we will see unprecedented economic recovery.

The government, specifically the federal goverment, needs to get out of the way and allow "We the People" to be successful. As you know, I am a huge fan of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson said " What country can preserve it's liberties if it's rulers are not warned from time to time that thier people preserve the spirit of resistance?"

Don

Haitian Relief Efforts and The Governments Involvment

I was just speaking with a Navy officer who is stationed in San Diego. Almost all of his entire hospital staff is being deployed to Haiti to set up a tent hospital. While I applaud the efforts of our government ot assist those in need in other countries, it is not the governments responsibility or constitutional role. There are NGOs (non-governmental organizations) like the Red Cross and others that are supported by the charity of individuals and corporations whose job it is to provide this relief effort. I am in total support of our military protecting our citizens when they are abroad but that is all.

It is the responsiblity of the military to protect the United States from all enemies both foriegn and domestic. That does not mean that we go looking outside our borders for new enemy states to destroy and rebuild. It means we protect our country. I am willing to bet that if all the soldiers deployed overseas in whatever capacity were to come home and park themselves along the borders that illegal immigration would come to a screeching halt.

Please donate money and resources to the extremely unfortunate people of Haiti, but do not support governmental nation building or we will be in Haiti forever, just like Germany, South Korea, and many other countries.

Don