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To: taxcontrol

My idea of a single amendment to correct several issues all at once.
[A WORK IN PROGRESS]

Section 1. The following Amendments to the Constitution of the United States shall be repealed.
- Article 1. The sixteenth amendment [Income tax].
- Article 2. The seventeenth amendment [Senatorial elections].
- Article 3. The twenty-third amendment [Washington, D.C., suffrage].

Section 2. Recognizing the Rights of the People.
- Article 1. The government of the United States shall recognize each citizen of the United States is an individual who is endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- Article 2. All actions and activities of the federal government of the United States, including all laws, all enactments, and all legislation of the federal government:
- Shall apply equally to each individual citizen of the United States; and
- Shall apply no preferential or punitive treatment for any individual citizen of the United States based upon any distinction, including but not limited to age, or race, or gender, or religion, or social status, or financial status, or health status, or any other distinction; except as a punishment for a crime wherein the party shall have been duly convicted; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens to provide any labor; and no restrictions shall be placed on the value of their labor; except as a punishment for a crime wherein the party shall have been duly convicted; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens to purchase or use any products, methods, or services of any other citizen or group of citizens; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens from entering into private contracts and agreements regarding labor, or wages, or other compensation.

Section 3. Recognizing the Authority of the States.
- Article 1. The Constitution of the United States is an agreement of delegation of certain specific powers by each of the several States that authorize it, and it does not endow the federal government with any implied powers. All powers not expressly delegated to the United States by Article I section 8 of The Constitution, are reserved to each of the States respectively, or to the people, are strictly prohibited as specified by the 9th and 10th amendments. The federal government of the United States is authorized to control and maintain property and assets only where necessary to accomplish the powers delegated in Article I section 8 of The Constitution.
- Article 2. Each state shall retain its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. Every power, jurisdiction, and authority which is not expressly delegated to the United States in Article I section 8 of The Constitution are reserved to the States, or to the people.
- Article 3. The phrases “promote the general welfare” and “provide for the general welfare” that are found in the United States Constitution are not to be interpreted as to allow for or imply any additional powers other than those that are expressly delegated to the United States by Article I section 8 of The Constitution. Those phrases do not imply any additional impositions on the individual States, or on the people.
- Article 4. The phrase “to regulate commerce among the several states” that is found in Article 1 Section 8 of The Constitution shall limit the Federal Government solely to insuring there are no taxes, or tariffs, or restrictions, or any other barriers to free trade and free commerce between and among any of the several states and thus allow for unrestricted commerce between and among the states. Upon specific application from the Governor or chief executive of any of the several states, congress shall have the authority to mediate any trade disputes that may arise among them.
- Article 5. No actions or activities of the federal government of the United States, including no law, no enactment, and no legislation of the federal government shall require any of the several States to engage in any activities, programs, or initiatives without the specific consent and agreement of each of the states, and even then, without providing compensation to each of the states that is equal to the additional costs of implementing and maintaining those activities, programs, or initiatives.
- Article 6. No actions or activities of the federal government of the United States, including no law, no enactment, and no legislation of the federal government shall apply unequally to any of the several States.

Section 4. The United States House of Representatives.
- Article 1. The term of office for members of the United States House of Representatives shall be 2 years; but no person shall be elected to the office of the House of Representatives of the United States for more than two terms.
- Article 2. A member of the United States House of Representative must be at least twenty five years old, and must have been a legal citizen of the United States for 7 years, and must have been a legal resident of the state from which he is chosen for at least the previous 7 years.
- Article 3. The House of Representatives shall undertake a census enumeration once every ten years to determine the number of born or naturalized United States citizens who are over the age of eighteen on January first of the census year residing in each of the several states. Citizens residing within the District of Columbia shall be counted as residents of the state of Maryland for the purpose of census enumeration.
- Article 4. The number of members of the United States House of Representatives shall be determined by proportion of the population of born or naturalized United States citizens who are over the age of eighteen on January first of the census year residing in each of the several states based upon the most recent census enumeration. Citizens residing within the District of Columbia shall be considered as residents of the state of Maryland for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives. Based upon the most recent census enumeration, the total number of citizens of The United States shall be divided by the number of the citizens of the least populous state to determine the number of members of the House of Representatives; except that no state shall have more than fifty representatives, and no state shall have fewer than two representatives.
- Article 5. The manner and method of selection of the members of the United States House of Representatives shall be by popular vote of born or naturalized United States citizens of the United States who are legal residents of each representative district within the state. The Governor or chief executive of each of the several states shall determine the representative districts within their states.Section 5. The United States Senate.

Section 5. The United States Senate.
- Article 1. The term of office for members of the United States Senate shall be 6 years; terms will be staggered with 1/3 being elected every 2 years; but no person shall be chosen for the office of Senate of the United States for more than two terms.- Article 2. Each member of the United States Senate must be at least thirty years old, and must have been a legal citizen of the United States for at least 12 years, and must have been a legal resident of the state from which they are chosen for at least the previous 12 years.- Article 3. The Governor or chief executive of each of the several states shall determine the manner and method of selection of their United States Senators.- Article 4. No bill, legislation, resolution, or any other business of any kind shall be approved by the Senate without having obtained approval of three-fifths of all of its members.

Section 6. The Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
- Article 1. ???...age requirement, citizenship requirement, residency requirement...
- Article 2. The president must accept all parts of a bill or veto the bill in its entirety. There shall be no line-item or partial veto. The President has no authority to write, re-write, alter, or amend congressional legislation or administrative law.
- Article 3. No regulation proposed by the Executive Branch or by any federal agency thereof shall have the force of law until it has been proposed to and approved by a majority of both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President.
- Article 4. All regulations that exist in the “Code of Federal Regulations” at the time of passage of this amendment will expire 10 years after the passage of this amendment, unless each of those regulations are re-authorized by being presented and passed by a majority of both houses of the Congress. The re-authorization of these existing regulations shall be exempt from presidential veto.

The President shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment....provided that any such Reprieves and Pardons are approved by both houses of Congress.

Section 7. The Judicial Branch of the Federal Government.
- Article 1. ...??? term limits, age requirement, citizenship requirement, residency requirement...
- Article 2. If the Supreme Court finds any portion of a bill, law, legislation, or regulation to be unconstitutional, that ruling must be applied to the entire bill, law, legislation, or regulation. The Supreme Court has no authority to write, re-write, alter, or amend congressional legislation or administrative law.

Section 8. The Federal Budget.
- Article 1. The fiscal year for the federal government shall begin on the first day of April and end on the last day of March. Before the first day of June of each year, the House of Representatives shall publish a statement of the origins and amounts outlays and receipts of the federal government from the previous year. Any outlays for repayment of debt principal, any outlays for payments on debt interest, and any receipts from borrowing that may have occurred in the prior year shall be itemized separately. After the first day of June, no other bills shall be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives until this statement has been published.
- Article 2. Any annual budget surplus amounts that may occur shall not roll-over to the next year, and shall first be applied to the retirement of any existing debt principle of the United States unless there is no such debt, in which case such budget surplus amounts shall be refunded annually before the first day of July proportionally to each of the several states according to the total number of members allocated in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
- Article 3. Before the first day of August of each year, the House of Representatives shall propose an annual budget for the following fiscal year by a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject and then send the bill to the United States Senate for agreement. The United States Senate must bring the proposed budget to the floor for a roll call vote within ten days (Sundays excepted). The United States Senate shall have no authority to amend the proposed annual budget; it must either approve the budget or return it to the House of Representatives noting any objections. After the first day of August of each year, no other bills shall be brought to the floor of either house for consideration until such time as an annual budget has been approved by the United States House of Representatives and accepted by the United States Senate and then either signed into law by the president, or ten days having passed (Sundays excepted).
- Article 4. No bill to increase or to raise additional federal revenue, and no bill to increase limits that may be placed on the amount of debt held by the United States, and no federal budget that increases the size of the budget, and no federal budget that proposes any borrowing shall become law unless each such bill is specifically and separately approved by: first, a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject by three fourths of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives of the United States; and second, a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject by three fourths of the whole number of the members of the Senate of the United States. The United States Senate shall have no authority to amend such bills; it must either approve the bill or return it to the House of Representatives noting any objections.
- Article 5. Beginning on the first day of January of the first year after ratification of this amendment, the current income tax code shall be fully repealed, and replaced with a 15 percent flat rate income tax that shall be levied against all wages earned in each of the various States and territories of the United States with no exemptions and no exceptions. Beginning on the first day of January of the second year after ratification of this amendment, all federal taxes on income shall be wholly abolished and a 15 percent tax shall be levied against all retail sales transactions in each of the various States and territories of the United States with no exemptions and no exceptions. This tax shall be collected by each of the various States and territories of the United States and shall be transferred to the federal government on a monthly basis. A failure by any State or territory to collect or transfer federal taxes shall result a suspension of any voting privileges for representatives from that State in the United States Congress and a suspension of any federal funding for any programs within that State or territory until such time as ...


50 posted on 06/12/2014 6:07:49 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (We have met the enemy and he is us.)
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To: Repeal The 17th

Pretty much works for me, but I worry about the detail. On the other hand it might be necessary to nail down every corner of the tent.

There is no good faith possible when dealing with statists.


84 posted on 06/13/2014 10:40:46 AM PDT by John Valentine (Deep in the Heart of Texas)
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