The Koch Brothers Want A New Constitution — And They’re Closer Than You Think

Good point. Another idea should the Congress fail to pass a budget is a continuation of the previous budget with an across the board 5% cut, which should serve to encourage them to pass a budget.

You also bring up the important point of flexibility for contingencies. That could be addressed with a one year suspension of the balanced budget amendment on a 3/5ths vote, by both Houses, specifying the amount of overage being authorized.

 

The best part is when I hear people say "well then you are just selfish and a bad American"

Which is the best argument ever! You won't do something I want, so you are selfish....

yeah

 

Should have read this before posting. Good summary.

 

So, you are supporter of the murderous nature of Leftists, and view them in some sort of sick romantic way?

 

There can't be any logic in their answer as they have no reasonable answer. So it's an ad hominem attack or dehumanization etc.

 

Dehumanizing is the most common now days. The typical tactic is to act like the victim and over sensationalize everything. I hate Republican partisans just as much as Democrats, but ever since the election of Trump the left's victimizatoin has been literally out of control.

I simply don't care anymore and when/if they take offense I simply try to go over the top and offend them more. If a person refuses to speak rationally about something then sure, I will have fun pushing that persons' buttons

 

If you could have the Framers over for dinner and share with them how the Federal Government has escaped our grasp, they would be astonished that the States had never even bothered to call a Convention to draft amendments to regain control over the Federal Government.

That is exactly why they gave the States this power. As the States were drafting Article V, they were working to make sure that the Federal Government, that they were creating, would never escape the grasp of the States that were forming it. As George Mason considered article V, he realized that the Federal Government controlled the amendment process, and he insisted on additional language that gave the States the power to amend the constitution, completely without Federal input. That power was hard fought, hard won, and given to us, for such a time as this.

We simply cannot give up, without ever even reaching for that tool. Go onto Amazon, and download: The Liberty Amendments by Mark Levin. It's a fairly fast read, well sourced, runs about 240 pages and it runs through this from the Drafting of the Constitution, why that language was inserted for us, and how we can best put this to use.

 

Well if you included a 5% spending cut as part of any budget that alone could serve as a buffer for surprise expenditures. Mainly what I'm saying is that cutting taxes or not-paying is not the solution, but logical taxing exemptions should be considered alongside any spending cuts. What I mean by "logical tax exemptions" is that those with 80% of the wealth should be bearing 80% of the tax burden, because the hording of wealth is not contribution into the US economy.

 

There was NOT a surplus in the 1990's. USG was still running a deficit, but there WAS a budget surplus for a few years. Hear is some handy explanatory text...



Specifically, debt held by the public reached a high of 49.5% of GDP at the beginning of President Clinton's first term in 1992. But by the end of Clinton's term in the White house, it had fallen to 34.5% of GDP, in part due to decreased military spending, increased taxes (in 1990, 1993, and 1997), and increased tax revenue resulting from the 1990s economic boom. Budget controls instituted in the 1990s also successfully restrained action by Congress and the President, which together with economic growth contributed to the budget surpluses at the end of the decade, which were used to pay down the national debt over the intervening period. Coincidentally, these budget surpluses evaporated shortly after President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

This is what people mean by having a "surplus." And more importantly, this usage is not unique to government, as even private investment groups define "surpluses" as an excess of revenue which surpasses expenses (see Budget Surplus Definition | Investopedia). But even corporations and institutions that have significant surpluses (as opposed to deficits) can still have significant debts--and as you will see below, more often than not, they usually do.

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-...ugh-it-doesnt-meet-the-definition-of-the-word

 

The "murderous nature of Leftists"? No, I wouldn't necessarily claim that, but I would say the age of peaceful protest has proven to be a failed ideology regardless of what political affiliation anyone is. There is way too much political communication breakdown that has evolved from disagreement to down-right contempt and vulgarity in just the last sixteen years (prior to Trump) that we haven't seen since the last Civil War and its only getting worse. This does not mean that I support it but I do recognize that it's happening. Even families and friends are becoming violently split on every level of political ideologies. It would be negligent to ignore this reality.

 

If they earned it lawfully, they can do whatever they want with it. And unless they are stuffing into a mattress, it is most certainly contributing to the economy. Whatever savings instruments it is invested in, is serving as the base for loans by the lending institutions engaged in fractional banking.

 

1. We need a balanced budget Amendment. We also need flexability to borrow in times of crisis. It wouldnt be hard to write in language that defines those crisis and the duration allowed to borrow.

2. Term limits for Congress and appointed judges are a must. The SCOTUS should also be expanded to 12 judges. The chief judge of each circuit serves on the SCOTUS. The justice from the appealed circuit is recused.



Expanding on the balanced budget, here is how I would do it. Throw out the current individual tax code. A progressive flat tax broken into 10 brackets. Lowest bracket is 0%, highest is 25%. No mortgage deductions, no earned income tax credits, no writing off losses in investments, no anything. If you earn 100K a year and the bracket is 15%, you pay 15k to feds.

On top of that, everyone is smacked with an additional 1% tax on all income that can only be used to pay off national debt.

You cant get any more fair than that.

 

I've gotten afraid to discuss politics. That's how I'm handling it.

 

I'm pretty much versed in it. I support it but I need to become more active rather than the occasional donation. I'm concerned on how balancing the budget will be written. Term limits will help tremendously. There should be few benefits to serving. It should be service. A method to recall judges is necessary plus term limits on SC justices. Maybe 10 years.

 

I agree but using the KISS method we are spending too much on debt and that is very low interest rates. If they go up then we will have trouble paying the bills.

 

That's correct. I checked every year from 1/19/1993 to 1/19/2001 and the federal debt increased each year. But, that said, Gingrich and Clinton did the best job of my lifetime, controlling the growth of the federal Debt.

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/debt/current

 

I support a national sales tax, set to produce a balanced budget, with first of the month automatic deposits of tax rebates equal to the poverty line, for everyone.

 

Yet property tax isn't granted those very same immunities. For the life of your pet you are expected to purchase a licence yearly, your home, your vehicles, sales tax, gas tax, income tax, investment taxes, even banks hit you with banking fees. These are fees (taxes) being applied to one-time (paid in full purchases) but the government still expects a cut on all of it. Your money is taxed every time it moves and your property is taxes for every year you own it, but for those (top 0.1%) that hold more money than the other 99% combined only moving a fraction of their wealth in comparison that money is not taxed, nor is it doing anything but sitting somewhere safely collecting dust and interest. That money just sits there and it exceeds 80% of global wealth yet the global debt is 20% of global debt and they want that 20% of global debt to be paid for where only 20% of global wealth exists on top of the fact that that 90% of the population has other living expenses as well (not luxury cost, but living expenses).

 

I was a big fan of the Fair Tax until the fight about sales tax on internet sales started. Some of the issues and holes in that turned me off to it.

 

So? If they earned it lawfully, they may do whatever they want with it.

Yes, and likely being used as the basis for loans issued by lending institutions engaged in fractional banking.

So? We have safety networks and for the able-bodied, tight labor markets.

 

That's understandable. Given the weaponizing of the IRS against Conservatives, I want their fangs pulled, and a simple flat tax, collected at the time of sale, seems to me to be the least intrusive. I'm willing to pay more, to be under a less intrusive system.

 

That was the crux of it. There are far too many points of sale for the govt to monitor. In order to cover all of those tracks, the damn tax code would be as complicated and expensive as it is now.

 

I'd just piggyback the sales tax system that already exists in many States.

 

We don't need a new Constitution, this one would work just fine with some or all of these suggested Amendments (especially #1):

1. We need a legitimate process to enforce the Constitution on government. That would mean among other things, taking away qualified and absolute immunity for government servants.

2. We need to repeal the Federal Reserve Act and enforce Article I Section 8 Paragraph 5 (To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;).

3. We need to remove the seized power of the judiciary to "interpret" the Constitution. With that, we need a system that reviews all proposed legislation for constitutional compliance and return all non-compliant bills to the legislature for correction. This should be controlled similarly to a jury system (in the hands of The People). Judicial review would be limited to interpreting laws for constitutional compliance, not the Constitution itself. Judges should be also be elected and serve no more than 2 terms of no more than 6 years each.

4. We need to make corporate lobbying illegal. Only people lobbies would be legal.

5. We need to make corporate campaign contributions illegal (overturning SEC vs Citizens United and along with it protected corporate "rights"). Only contributions by ordinary people would be legal and limited to a maximum per person per candidate per office.

6. We need to repeal the 16th Amendment and end the income tax permanently. Along with that disband the IRS.

7. We need to enforce Article I Section 8 Paragraph 11 (To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;) and remove all such decisions from the Executive.

8. All candidates for public office should be required to pass a rigorous test on the Constitution and be barred from running for office if they cannot answer at least 90% of the questions correctly.

The above is just a short list of key suggested Amendments, I'm sure others can add their suggestion(s).

 

I'm not picking on you, I promise.

Online sales would boom and would be almost entirely devoid of taxes.

If this was to pass, I would set up a business in Grand Turk (appealing tax situation) and sell all of my wares in the US, tax free. Just put a little disclaimer saying the the purchaser is liable for all taxes and I am covered.