Posted on 11/01/2014 6:20:33 PM PDT by OneWingedShark
So, I've been working on a little booklet to present/illustrate the reasons why the amendments are needed in addition to the amendment-text itself — I'm not entirely pleased with the justifications I've written up, and I'm not sure that these are enough for presenting to an Article V Amendment-convention, but nonetheless here they are.
| Tax Reform Amendment | Fiscal Responsibility Amendment |
|---|---|
| Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto, retrospective, or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit. |
Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon conviction shall: a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee), b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits, c. pay all legal costs, and d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation. |
| Commerce Clause Amendment | Senate Reform Amendment |
| Section I The federal government shall directly subsidize no product or industry whatsoever, saving the promotion the progress of Science and useful Arts. Section II The federal government shall never prescribe nor proscribe what the several states teach. Neither the federal government nor the several states shall ever deny the right of parents to teach and instruct their children as they see fit. Section III The congress may impose tariffs, excise taxes, and customs duties on anything imported or exported, provided that they are applied uniformly and in no manner restrict, subvert, or circumvent the second amendment. Section IV No law may impose prohibitions of any sort on the commerce between the several states due to the item itself. |
Section I The seventeenth amendment is hereby repealed. Section II The several states may provide by law the means by which their senators may be removed or replaced. |
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated; comments are enabled on the google-drive document, so you can leave them there, or on this thread, or by FReepmail.
Ping.
Art. V-ish Ping.
Article V ping.
Proposal:
There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.
Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.
Disposal:
Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:
The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.
Ratification:
Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.
Forbidden Subjects:
Article V contains two explicitly forbidden subjects and one implicitly forbidden subject.
Explicitly forbidden:
Implicitly forbidden:
I have two reference works for those interested.
The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative pro-business group. This document has been sent to every state legislator in the country.
Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers
The second is a 1973 report from the American Bar Association attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention. It represents the view of the ruling class of 40 years ago. While I dislike some of their conclusions, they have laid out the precedents that may justify those conclusions. What I respect is the comprehensive job they did in locating all the gray areas. They went so far as to identify a gray area that didn't pop up until the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned a decade later. Even if you find yourself in disagreement with their vision, it's worth reading to see the view of the ruling class toward the process.
Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee
What in particular do you disagree with?
What can I do to better explain the needs for these amendments?
Do you do-gooders understand that a Constitutional Convention opens up the entire--the ENTIRE--Constitution for amendment, not just simply the little portions you are concerned about?
In any case, whether the whole Constitution is opened for amendment or only the subjects of the amendment-convention, do you not understand that the legislatures of 38 States would have to agree to it?
If you're asserting that we can't count on 13 States to reject utter crap, then the only other recourse is violence. Period.
That, of course, means that the Mexicans, the Muslims, the gun-dooer-away-withers, and anyone else with an agenda, can put their two-cents ideas into the mix? So instead of amendments having to do with your particular agenda, we may have amendments that legitimize actions that are now illegal?
Do you think that less than 13 states would oppose these?
How would you like abortion as a Constitutionally-guaranteed action?
Do you think that less than 13 States would oppose that?
Or the First Lady or First Husband as a paid U.S. employee? Or . . . a First Husband of a male president?
Do you think that less than 13 States would oppose this?
Thank you for the references and explaination.
I found it useful to print off both documents, run them through a 3-hole punch and then put them in a binder. There is a lot of good material there for reference purposes.
Thanks for the ping!
Thanks for the ping!
“What a mess”...
...that you have such poor skills in comprehension.
?linky no worky?
I managed to get it from internet explorer (firefox no worky).
Thanks!
Good to hear you got it.
I look forward to your comments.
That's a really good idea.
Thank you.
Artilce V no way opens up the entire Consitution.
I understand your concern but what you have stated here is highly improbable. Any amendment proposed by a convention of states must be ratified by the state’s just as any other proposed amendment must be. IMHO none of what you fear could happen because amendments proposing what you fear could ever be ratified.
Well done !!
The beauty of what you are proposing is that none of them are programmatic like prohibition was.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.