Constitution of the United States
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.
No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
{Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.1Changed by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment
Close} The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, {chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.2Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment
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{Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies3Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment
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No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall {be on the first Monday in December,4Changed by Section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment
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Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.
Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; — And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
{No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.5See Sixteenth Amendment
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No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
Article II
Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years {6Limited to two terms by the Twenty-Second Amendment
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Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
{The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.7Changed by the Twelfth Amendment
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The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
{In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.8Changed by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment
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The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; — to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; — to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; — to controversies between two or more states; — {between a state and citizens of another state9Changed by the Eleventh Amendment
Close}; — between citizens of different states; — between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
{No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.10Changed by the Thirteenth Amendment
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Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.
Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Article VII
The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.
In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
G.o Washington — Presdt. and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut Wm: Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm. Paterson
Jona: Dayton
Pennsylvania B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt Morris
Geo. Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv Morris
Delaware Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom
Maryland James McHenry
Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer
Danl Carroll
Virginia John Blair--
James Madison Jr.
North Carolina Wm. Blount
Richd. Dobbs Spaight
Hu Williamson
South Carolina J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Georgia William Few
Abr Baldwin
Attest William Jackson Secretary
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Bow, Shake or Kneel
As a youngster, I was taught to treat others with respect. The golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated holds true in most circumstances. However, I have come to believe a better rule is to treat others the way they want to be treated. If you treat them with respect and treat them with integrity and in a manner consistent with their desires, you will in turn be treated with equal respect.
I said usually. Some people are self centered and oblivious to the needs and desires of others and are just not going to respect you. Often they don't even respect themselves. Some are just rude and so be it.
Heads of state are different, though. If the POTUS and PM of GB meet, as allies I think it appropriate to treat each other as equals or at least with a measure of respect. However, it is never appropriate for a head of state of any nation to bow to a royal of any other sovereign nation. I know their are cultural instances when it may be a sign of respect to bow to one another, but to bow to a king is to render oneself subservient. If you are the head of a nation, you render your nation subservient. The US is subservient only to God and we don't even get that right half the time.
When the POTUS meets with a third world dictator, I think it depends on the meeting as to whether a handshake is appropriate. In private meetings, if the meeting is congenial, a handshake may be appropriate. To seal an agreement, a handshake may be appropriate, but it is on the terms of the POTUS. It would not be appropriate in public.
Our president has a lot to learn about being the most powerful man in the world. He rules because our God has put him there and he serves at His pleasure. Hopefully God will teach him. If he will listen.
I said usually. Some people are self centered and oblivious to the needs and desires of others and are just not going to respect you. Often they don't even respect themselves. Some are just rude and so be it.
Heads of state are different, though. If the POTUS and PM of GB meet, as allies I think it appropriate to treat each other as equals or at least with a measure of respect. However, it is never appropriate for a head of state of any nation to bow to a royal of any other sovereign nation. I know their are cultural instances when it may be a sign of respect to bow to one another, but to bow to a king is to render oneself subservient. If you are the head of a nation, you render your nation subservient. The US is subservient only to God and we don't even get that right half the time.
When the POTUS meets with a third world dictator, I think it depends on the meeting as to whether a handshake is appropriate. In private meetings, if the meeting is congenial, a handshake may be appropriate. To seal an agreement, a handshake may be appropriate, but it is on the terms of the POTUS. It would not be appropriate in public.
Our president has a lot to learn about being the most powerful man in the world. He rules because our God has put him there and he serves at His pleasure. Hopefully God will teach him. If he will listen.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Leadership
Much has been said and written about the lack of leadership in our culture, particularly with respect to the Republican Party, the conservative movement, and the economy. The recent presidential election did not have a conservative candidate. While McCain is far more conservative than Obama, he is at best a liberal republican. No conservative could muster the support to energize the party to support them for the nomination.
Leadership is an elusive quality. While management skills can be learned and applied, leadership is a whole other entity. A manager can assemble people, create a common goal and develop a plan for success. A good manager can execute the plan and achieve great things. That doesn't make them a leader.
A leader is more than a manager with vision. A leader is committed, passionate, and filled with a desire to make dramatic changes to their world. They can see the world as it should be and there is a deep burning desire within to re-make the world their way. The very soul of a leader is committed to their cause.
So what are the characteristics of a leader? I believe there are four characteristics of all good leaders: Character, Conviction, Compassion, and Composure.
Character is more than just the ability to get people to like you. Character is all of the intangibles like ethics, morals, justness, etc. But, it is so much more than just that. Can an amoral person be a good leader? Of course, but their leadership will be temporary. Eventually their character will be revealed and people will eventually stop following them. Generally, people want to follow leaders we trust to lead us to a better way of living. When we understand the character, or lack there of, we begin to question motivations and then we question the way.
Conviction is the strong belief in the better way being offered. Obama had that conviction. A moderate like McCain lacked that conviction and his leadership faltered as a result. People follow passion and without conviction, there will be no passion. You cannot be passionate about compromise or equivocation. The abortion issue is a great example. People are passionate about women's rights on one side and about anti-abortion on the other. But, no one is passionate about compromising to allow abortions in some cases, but not others. There is no compromise in either side.
Compassion is required for a leader because not everyone shares their vision and commitment, but leaders realize the need for others to follow in order to change the world to reach their goals. A good leader understands the needs and desires of his followers. He also understands the needs and desires of those most affected by the change.
Composure may be the most important characteristic of a leader. Change is stress to people and a leader will encounter resistance. People want to trust that when all around is falling apart, their leader is standing strong. When Ronald Regan was shot, he calmed the world with one statement. He said, "Tell Nancy, I'm alright." With that statement, the world exhaled. Regan was a leader.
So where are the leaders in the conservative movement? Where is the passion? Have circumstances not deteriorated enough to arouse the passion for change? Leaders needed. Apply within.
Leadership is an elusive quality. While management skills can be learned and applied, leadership is a whole other entity. A manager can assemble people, create a common goal and develop a plan for success. A good manager can execute the plan and achieve great things. That doesn't make them a leader.
A leader is more than a manager with vision. A leader is committed, passionate, and filled with a desire to make dramatic changes to their world. They can see the world as it should be and there is a deep burning desire within to re-make the world their way. The very soul of a leader is committed to their cause.
So what are the characteristics of a leader? I believe there are four characteristics of all good leaders: Character, Conviction, Compassion, and Composure.
Character is more than just the ability to get people to like you. Character is all of the intangibles like ethics, morals, justness, etc. But, it is so much more than just that. Can an amoral person be a good leader? Of course, but their leadership will be temporary. Eventually their character will be revealed and people will eventually stop following them. Generally, people want to follow leaders we trust to lead us to a better way of living. When we understand the character, or lack there of, we begin to question motivations and then we question the way.
Conviction is the strong belief in the better way being offered. Obama had that conviction. A moderate like McCain lacked that conviction and his leadership faltered as a result. People follow passion and without conviction, there will be no passion. You cannot be passionate about compromise or equivocation. The abortion issue is a great example. People are passionate about women's rights on one side and about anti-abortion on the other. But, no one is passionate about compromising to allow abortions in some cases, but not others. There is no compromise in either side.
Compassion is required for a leader because not everyone shares their vision and commitment, but leaders realize the need for others to follow in order to change the world to reach their goals. A good leader understands the needs and desires of his followers. He also understands the needs and desires of those most affected by the change.
Composure may be the most important characteristic of a leader. Change is stress to people and a leader will encounter resistance. People want to trust that when all around is falling apart, their leader is standing strong. When Ronald Regan was shot, he calmed the world with one statement. He said, "Tell Nancy, I'm alright." With that statement, the world exhaled. Regan was a leader.
So where are the leaders in the conservative movement? Where is the passion? Have circumstances not deteriorated enough to arouse the passion for change? Leaders needed. Apply within.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Take the Stimulus or Not
As I write this Governor Mark Sanford is debating whether to accept the stimulus money from the federal government. Sanford wants to use the money to pay down debt, but the money, as with all things from the federal government, comes with spending requirements that do not allow debt reduction. The legislature is divided on the issue as well they should be.
The problem of the budget in SC is a complex one with the major issue being the high unemployment (one of the highest in the nation). Tax revenue is down, but spending on government spending is up. South Carolina is a microcosm of the economy in total. As Governor, you want to help the people of SC that have lost their jobs, but Sanford is unwilling to help them at the expense of their children.
The stimulus money is for two years. If the money is added to the the revenue stream in SC and budgeting is done in the normal baseline budgeting manner, in two years, when the stream dries up, the income must be replace with instate money. Unless the economy booms, that will not happen.
South Carolina is a diverse state with manufacturing areas in the upstate, rural agricultural communities in the Pee Dee, and the tourist areas along the coast. While the upstate counties and areas around Charlotte and Columbia are prosperous with good schools, the rural counties have fewer resources and job opportunities. The coast is heavily populated, but many of the jobs are service or construction type and not the higher paying technical jobs of the upstate.
The areas most hurt by the current recession are the areas that were already below the state average. While manufacturing job losses are high, this recession has really hurt the tourist and small construction business. Taking the stimulus money and spending it on the prescribed education would be helpful to those hurting the most. The issue is complex.
The solution to a complex problem is a series of simpler solutions. First, Governor Sanford has to make his point politically that we need to exercise extreme caution in taking the money from the federal government with the strings attached. Help should not come with such strings.
Second, rather than let the budgets balloon based on short term money, use the money for short term projects where needed and define the spending as outside of budget spending. Use the money for capital spending that helps infrastructure, but does not require extended maintenance.
Third, seek to outsource and privatize some state agencies. Prisons seem like and easy start. With some basic rules and oversight, long term prisoners could be kept anywhere in the world less expensively than here.
Fourth, promote growth in rural areas. Offer tax incentives to companies to locate in and hire workers from rural areas. Give companies tax incentives to locate in any county with unemployment below the average of the 46 counties. If any company in the state hires workers that are currently receiving unemployment benefits for more than 3 months, they can deduct the cost of the employee including salary, benefits and training costs from their profits before taxes for two years.
Fifth, to help people get back on their feet now, people that have been on assistance for more than 3 months will pay no state taxes for one year. No withholdings will put more money in their checks every week to get them out of any debt accrued quicker.
Sixth, reduce property taxes now. Prices on real property are falling and with foreclosures, will continue to fall for several years. Taxes are not being revalued based on these reductions in value. Reduce the property taxes to rates below the national average. Based on income and cost of living, SC taxes should be in the lower 4th of the nation. It is not.
These solutions each come with a price. State expenditures have to be controlled. State employees will become part of the unemployed, but if the administrators are allowed to cut employees based on the same criteria as private businesses, government will operate more efficiently. We cannot continue to support a bloated state government, an oppressive federal government, an dependent population and and aging workforce. If we don't react swiftly and decisively, our children and grandchildren will call us the weakest generation.
The problem of the budget in SC is a complex one with the major issue being the high unemployment (one of the highest in the nation). Tax revenue is down, but spending on government spending is up. South Carolina is a microcosm of the economy in total. As Governor, you want to help the people of SC that have lost their jobs, but Sanford is unwilling to help them at the expense of their children.
The stimulus money is for two years. If the money is added to the the revenue stream in SC and budgeting is done in the normal baseline budgeting manner, in two years, when the stream dries up, the income must be replace with instate money. Unless the economy booms, that will not happen.
South Carolina is a diverse state with manufacturing areas in the upstate, rural agricultural communities in the Pee Dee, and the tourist areas along the coast. While the upstate counties and areas around Charlotte and Columbia are prosperous with good schools, the rural counties have fewer resources and job opportunities. The coast is heavily populated, but many of the jobs are service or construction type and not the higher paying technical jobs of the upstate.
The areas most hurt by the current recession are the areas that were already below the state average. While manufacturing job losses are high, this recession has really hurt the tourist and small construction business. Taking the stimulus money and spending it on the prescribed education would be helpful to those hurting the most. The issue is complex.
The solution to a complex problem is a series of simpler solutions. First, Governor Sanford has to make his point politically that we need to exercise extreme caution in taking the money from the federal government with the strings attached. Help should not come with such strings.
Second, rather than let the budgets balloon based on short term money, use the money for short term projects where needed and define the spending as outside of budget spending. Use the money for capital spending that helps infrastructure, but does not require extended maintenance.
Third, seek to outsource and privatize some state agencies. Prisons seem like and easy start. With some basic rules and oversight, long term prisoners could be kept anywhere in the world less expensively than here.
Fourth, promote growth in rural areas. Offer tax incentives to companies to locate in and hire workers from rural areas. Give companies tax incentives to locate in any county with unemployment below the average of the 46 counties. If any company in the state hires workers that are currently receiving unemployment benefits for more than 3 months, they can deduct the cost of the employee including salary, benefits and training costs from their profits before taxes for two years.
Fifth, to help people get back on their feet now, people that have been on assistance for more than 3 months will pay no state taxes for one year. No withholdings will put more money in their checks every week to get them out of any debt accrued quicker.
Sixth, reduce property taxes now. Prices on real property are falling and with foreclosures, will continue to fall for several years. Taxes are not being revalued based on these reductions in value. Reduce the property taxes to rates below the national average. Based on income and cost of living, SC taxes should be in the lower 4th of the nation. It is not.
These solutions each come with a price. State expenditures have to be controlled. State employees will become part of the unemployed, but if the administrators are allowed to cut employees based on the same criteria as private businesses, government will operate more efficiently. We cannot continue to support a bloated state government, an oppressive federal government, an dependent population and and aging workforce. If we don't react swiftly and decisively, our children and grandchildren will call us the weakest generation.
Friday, April 3, 2009
World Economy
One of my most overused sayings is that complex problems require simple solutions. What I mean by that is that you have to break complex problems into smaller pieces and solve those issues. Complex solutions by definition are a problem because most people cannot manage the complexity of the solution, thereby causing a problem.
One such problem is the current state of the world economy. With the culmination of the G20 summit, it is more apparent than ever that the economy of the world hinges on three basic financial areas: the US, Europe, and Asia. In reality, it falls to just a few countries, the US, Western Europe, Japan, and China. The proportion of wealth to population in the world is disproportionate to overall population. Most of the world lives in what these few nations would call poverty.
I believe that we are among the wealthy because we have been blessed by God for reasons that only He knows. His blessings of wealth and education are certainly not a reward for any great thing we have done. Quite the contrary, it is more likely that His blessings are in spite of our actions. With great blessings also come great responsibilities.
As world economic leaders, we have the responsibility to help nations less fortunate. This is not to advocate a blank check to third world dictators, but to use the resources we have been given to help other growing nations. However, our national debt has committed our resources to others, rendering the supply of additional funds negligible. Our people are taxed to a level that more than 30% of their working time is required just to meet the tax burden. This is time that could be spent helping others. This is money that could be spent helping others.
The reasons are as old as history itself and not worth pointing fingers at the mistakes of the past. The real question is much simpler. How do we restore our economy so that we can restore the economies of the world? Our leaders believe that we can just print more money and send it to starving nations in the form of "humanitarian aid". If it weren't so ridiculous, that solution would be hysterical. And yet, here we go again.
In the US, we pay our farmers not to grow certain crops as a form of price controls. And yet, sub-Saharan countries can't eat our dollars, but could use grain or rice or beef, chicken, fish, etc. Why don't we use the rich, fertile soil of the great plains to grow food for our friends in need? Simply because it isn't as politically expedient and our leaders will always do what is politically expedient.
So, the problem is complex. National debt keeps the government from using financial resources to help other poor nations. National debt creates higher taxes on the people, taking individual resources reducing individual's ability to help poor people. Higher taxes cause people to spend more time working, reducing their ability to go and teach and help poor people. And, a history of letting the government be responsible for our individual giving has lead us to a "let the government do it" mentality that empowers politicians.
Complex problems require simple solutions.
1. Constitutional amendment: No budget can be passed that does not reduce the national debt with the exception of war and even then only with a super majority vote of both houses and presidential signature. Each budget should include 15% of the total to debt reduction until zero. A national goal should be set to eliminate the debt in 15 years.
2. Law: 10% of each budget should go to foreign aid immediately and the President should push other wealthy nations to do the same. Do not send money to foreign governments, but send food, supplies, engineers, farmers, geologists, and teachers to help growing countries.
3. Reduce taxes on all Americans and American business. Reduction in tax rates, if done permanently, increases movement of money and money is taxed when it moves. Therefore, with more movement of money, actual tax dollars go up, even though tax rates drop.
4. Encourage faith based and community based efforts as non-profit, tax exempt entities to join the efforts to feed the world. People with the heart to serve others have a calling to serve and are always more effective than any government.
The solutions aren't all encompassing and the solutions aren't without pain. Reducing the federal debt and the federal budget will no doubt hurt some people that live off of the government budget. It isn't easy, but it has to be done for our nation to regain our place as a nations blessed by God.
One such problem is the current state of the world economy. With the culmination of the G20 summit, it is more apparent than ever that the economy of the world hinges on three basic financial areas: the US, Europe, and Asia. In reality, it falls to just a few countries, the US, Western Europe, Japan, and China. The proportion of wealth to population in the world is disproportionate to overall population. Most of the world lives in what these few nations would call poverty.
I believe that we are among the wealthy because we have been blessed by God for reasons that only He knows. His blessings of wealth and education are certainly not a reward for any great thing we have done. Quite the contrary, it is more likely that His blessings are in spite of our actions. With great blessings also come great responsibilities.
As world economic leaders, we have the responsibility to help nations less fortunate. This is not to advocate a blank check to third world dictators, but to use the resources we have been given to help other growing nations. However, our national debt has committed our resources to others, rendering the supply of additional funds negligible. Our people are taxed to a level that more than 30% of their working time is required just to meet the tax burden. This is time that could be spent helping others. This is money that could be spent helping others.
The reasons are as old as history itself and not worth pointing fingers at the mistakes of the past. The real question is much simpler. How do we restore our economy so that we can restore the economies of the world? Our leaders believe that we can just print more money and send it to starving nations in the form of "humanitarian aid". If it weren't so ridiculous, that solution would be hysterical. And yet, here we go again.
In the US, we pay our farmers not to grow certain crops as a form of price controls. And yet, sub-Saharan countries can't eat our dollars, but could use grain or rice or beef, chicken, fish, etc. Why don't we use the rich, fertile soil of the great plains to grow food for our friends in need? Simply because it isn't as politically expedient and our leaders will always do what is politically expedient.
So, the problem is complex. National debt keeps the government from using financial resources to help other poor nations. National debt creates higher taxes on the people, taking individual resources reducing individual's ability to help poor people. Higher taxes cause people to spend more time working, reducing their ability to go and teach and help poor people. And, a history of letting the government be responsible for our individual giving has lead us to a "let the government do it" mentality that empowers politicians.
Complex problems require simple solutions.
1. Constitutional amendment: No budget can be passed that does not reduce the national debt with the exception of war and even then only with a super majority vote of both houses and presidential signature. Each budget should include 15% of the total to debt reduction until zero. A national goal should be set to eliminate the debt in 15 years.
2. Law: 10% of each budget should go to foreign aid immediately and the President should push other wealthy nations to do the same. Do not send money to foreign governments, but send food, supplies, engineers, farmers, geologists, and teachers to help growing countries.
3. Reduce taxes on all Americans and American business. Reduction in tax rates, if done permanently, increases movement of money and money is taxed when it moves. Therefore, with more movement of money, actual tax dollars go up, even though tax rates drop.
4. Encourage faith based and community based efforts as non-profit, tax exempt entities to join the efforts to feed the world. People with the heart to serve others have a calling to serve and are always more effective than any government.
The solutions aren't all encompassing and the solutions aren't without pain. Reducing the federal debt and the federal budget will no doubt hurt some people that live off of the government budget. It isn't easy, but it has to be done for our nation to regain our place as a nations blessed by God.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
New Authority
I spent some time today reading the US Constitution. I am no lawyer, but I could not find any provision for any branch of the federal government, even the executive branch, to call for the dismissal of a private company CEO. I bet Jefferson is in Heaven (or Hell) wondering what happened to the country he worked so hard to help found and to steer clear of government tyranny.
As I walked with my dog last night, I thought about what it will take to re-capture the path of greatness from which our country has strayed. I thought about the current political leadership and as I did a mental role call, I could not think of one man (or woman) that have what I consider the leadership ability to be great. The Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, all follow the same mentality of compromise and going along to get along. Who will be the Thomas Payne or John Hancock of our generation?
We have become a nation so soft from our own success that we fail to raise leaders willing to pay the price of leadership. Sure, we probably have more great business leaders (financial and automotive company not withstanding) than any nation in the history of the world. We have great military leaders that when allowed to use their expertise and execute their plans without micromanagement have built nations that spread freedom to a part of the world that has never known such. But, we don't have leaders willing to be crucified in the press, to have their wives and children exposed to ridicule that inevitably comes with change. We don't have wealthy men willing to give up their homes, their fortunes, their lives and the lives of their children so that their descendants can live free in a better world than we have today. Where are those men?
Desperate times do not create those men. Those men are created by God and are gifted to step forward in times of great angst. They may not be the smartest or the most brave or even the most faithful, but in every successful society, they are called by God to do the extraordinary. History teaches us nothing if not that Godly societies succeed and those that turn from Him will fail and fall hard when they do.
God guided the men that created our government. He did not guide them to create a theocracy because He gives us the choice to follow Him or not. He guided them to create a government that is run by people of His choosing. Where are those men today? Are they hearing the call and remaining silent? Or is God punishing us by giving us a leader that does not believe Him? He would certainly be justified in doing so...
As I walked with my dog last night, I thought about what it will take to re-capture the path of greatness from which our country has strayed. I thought about the current political leadership and as I did a mental role call, I could not think of one man (or woman) that have what I consider the leadership ability to be great. The Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, all follow the same mentality of compromise and going along to get along. Who will be the Thomas Payne or John Hancock of our generation?
We have become a nation so soft from our own success that we fail to raise leaders willing to pay the price of leadership. Sure, we probably have more great business leaders (financial and automotive company not withstanding) than any nation in the history of the world. We have great military leaders that when allowed to use their expertise and execute their plans without micromanagement have built nations that spread freedom to a part of the world that has never known such. But, we don't have leaders willing to be crucified in the press, to have their wives and children exposed to ridicule that inevitably comes with change. We don't have wealthy men willing to give up their homes, their fortunes, their lives and the lives of their children so that their descendants can live free in a better world than we have today. Where are those men?
Desperate times do not create those men. Those men are created by God and are gifted to step forward in times of great angst. They may not be the smartest or the most brave or even the most faithful, but in every successful society, they are called by God to do the extraordinary. History teaches us nothing if not that Godly societies succeed and those that turn from Him will fail and fall hard when they do.
God guided the men that created our government. He did not guide them to create a theocracy because He gives us the choice to follow Him or not. He guided them to create a government that is run by people of His choosing. Where are those men today? Are they hearing the call and remaining silent? Or is God punishing us by giving us a leader that does not believe Him? He would certainly be justified in doing so...
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