Proposal to Amend the US Constitution: The 28th Amendment.

March 23rd 2010

[Presto]

For those interested, I have slightly modified the language to the proposed 28th Amendment to read:

“The Congress shall not have power to lay and collect taxes of any kind within the borders of a State with the exclusive exception of a revenue-tax which shall be based solely on the accrued revenue of that State’s government. Congress shall not grant tax exemptions, deductions, or credits to any State government except in cases of relief assistance for catastrophe and strain.

All provisions of this Amendment shall enact after one year from its ratification.”

The transparent and competitive mechanisms necessitated by the language of this version of the Amendment are identical with the first posted version. But the wording is tighter and removes any doubt about the restrictions on Congress’s taxation powers.

I encourage everyone interested in the proposed 28th Amendment to read the extended presentations at my Google Docs web page:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=d9zrjs6_12g68ptbg5

[LonePalm]

One addition:

Being a creature of the states and by extension, the people, the Federal government may not require the expenditure of any funds by any state, sub-entity of a state, person, or corporation at any time or for any purpose except that it provide the funds for expenditure.

This would completely end unfunded mandates.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Presto]

I am certainly a lover of ending unfunded mandates. So I am in total agreement with your goal.

However, I don’t believe the Constitution permits the Federal Government to _require_ State governments to make expenditures of any sort. For a long time States have been cooperative with the Fed Gov because they are addicted to Federal funding.

So essentially, States are trapped in that if they do not make certain expenditures, they will be cut off from Federal funding.

[C.O. Correspondence]

It matters not what laws we pass, what the constitution says, if evil contorts the meanings of what has already been written.

This get to the gist of the entire conversation as far as I'm concerned. So, if corruption within the governing structure(s)is the problem, then would it be incorrect to assume that no matter how an amendment/law was worded the effect of the law would be useless? The equivalent to - the laws are only as useful as those enforcing them?