Sunday, June 28, 2009

Useful Art

I think this duty of Congress has been misread in recent years: “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.”

On the one hand, it’s easy to see how copyright and patent protection would be an important system to establish on a national level. The founding fathers assumed that authors and inventors would naturally want to use their God-given talents in writing about subjects or making discoveries that would be beneficial to the whole populace.

Alas, one need only visit the nearest bookstore to see the many books that are not “useful” and promote sin (most fiction) or hate (political stuff from Michael Moore and his ilk). It is the same with movies and DVDs; the great majority are completely lacking in redeeming qualities. It seems that directors, producers, and script writers go out of their way to promote every vice and perversion.

Congress created the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) in 1965, supposedly “dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.” Unfortunately their definition of “art” includes things that are completely “un-useful” and often times offensive and immoral. The NEA does not define “excellence in the arts” the way most Americans do!

Children are innately curious and want to “make things.” That is part of being created in God’s image—the desire to make beautiful things. Even the high priest’s garments were meant to be “for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2). When we use our creative abilities to His glory, we make the world better one poem, one book, one movie, one piece of visual art, one invention at a time.

What useful art will you create or support?

“The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom.” –A. Whitney Griswold

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Another Departure

Those of us who value the Constitution must stand in opposition to the raping of our country's wealth, future, and its very soul.

"I'm too busy," many say. "I don't know what to do."

The signers of the Declaration of Independence had jobs and families, too. But they saw an urgent need in their time and so pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to do what needed to be done for the good of all Americans.

We have an urgent need in our time to make our voices heard. During the Revolutionary times Samuel Adams wrote at least one letter a day in order to make a difference. This was in the days of parchment and quill pens.

There are simple things each of us can do. When a bill is coming up for a vote (as the monstrous Cap and Trade bill will be voted on tomorrow in the House) call your Representative. Google their website with the contact info at the bottom of the page. It takes two minutes or less to tell the staffer your name, city and state and politely ask that the Representative vote against Cap and Trade (or "for" another bill). The staffers DO record the vote tally. Flood those phone lines!

You may not have time to write a daily letter, but you can write one a week. Email is not the best form of communication; the staffers are not required by law to acknowledge them, and liberal officials (especially the current President) simply delete any opposing views.

But there IS a law requiring staffers to correctly handle physical mail. Since the anthrax scare in 2001 all politician's mail is sent on a decontamination journey (first AZ for irradiation, then PA for deep freeze) and so takes about six weeks to get to Washington(!)

Postcards pose no threat and force you to be succinct in your comments, which is important since politicians have the attention span of a gnat. An added benefit is that they require less postage.

So I challenge you to purchase some pre-stamped blank postcards, get the addresses of the White House, your two U.S. Senators, your one U.S. Representative, and even your state's governor, senator and representative and start sending those messages! Hold them accountable! They DO take mail seriously, no matter what you may hear in the state-run news....

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." --Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

A Post on the Post

Another duty of Congress was to “establish post offices and post roads.” The post is, of course, the mail. We picture canvas bags stuffed with letters, mail delivery trucks with the steering wheel on the right side, our personal mail carrier, or the mailbox at the end of our sidewalk.

Do we consider what an important role the Postal Service has played in our history? Not only is information spread from coast to coast, but also financial transactions and a huge chunk of commerce (Amazon uses UPS, but that’s another story).

What about post roads? Because the mail needed a fast and reliable method of delivery, not only roads but modes of transportation were developed and/or subsidized: on foot, horseback (Pony Express), stagecoach, steamboat, train, car or truck, airplane, and even by balloon, helicopter and pneumatic tube!

Unfortunately the current U.S. Postal System is a reflection of its bloated bureaucracy. One example is how the mail is delivered in our city of 20,000+ with our new, modern facility (I have this from a retired postal worker). If I want to mail a card to my neighbor, the envelope merely visits the main post office, is loaded on a semi with other local mail and sent to San Antonio, more than sixty miles away, to be postmarked “San Antonio.” Then the local Kerrville mail returns from San Antonio to be delivered the next day.

The reason? A substation in San Antonio wasn’t handling enough volume so was in danger of being shut down. Somebody got the bright idea to take OUR mail on a detour so a few people could keep their jobs at a particular post office. No wonder mail is often lost or mishandled! How many times is this scenario repeated across the nation?

Government control = inefficiency. There is no exception.

“Government machinery has been described as a marvelous labor saving device which enables ten men to do the work of one.” --John Maynard Keynes

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Punishing Counterfeiters

Congress is also authorized to “provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.”

To “counterfeit” means to “make in imitation with intent to deceive; not genuine; forged.” This crime is a federal felony; in fact, the Secret Service was originally created to deal with counterfeiters. Later their duties were extended to protecting the president and other officials. The punishment for counterfeiting money is harsh, up to 15 years in prison, plus restitution and fines. Why so severe?

Counterfeit money put in circulation makes the value of actual money go down, causing inflation in the nation’s economy. Businesses that receive counterfeit money are not reimbursed for their losses, and they must pass along those costs to the consumers via higher prices.

Securities include stocks, bonds, futures, options, and mutual funds, so more than just paper money is included. It’s easy to see how dishonesty in any facet of our economy can affect each and every person.

Perhaps the current Congress is not actually counterfeiting money, but their dishonesty in dealing with our economy will affect everyone in this country for generations as well as the entire world economy. It’s a shame that the Secret Service can’t find a way to charge those in charge with felony “intent to deceive.”

“Like all valuable commodities, truth is often counterfeited.” --James Cardinal Gibbons

Monday, June 22, 2009

Weights and Measures

Another duty of Congress in Article I, Section 8 is “to fix the standard of weights and measures.” In both commerce and industry this would be important to make sure everyone’s pound was 16 ounces and every yard was 36 inches. Consumers would be cheated if they paid for a pound of butter and only received 14 ounces. And imagine the catastrophe if buildings and bridges were constructed with steel and wooden beams that were not of a uniform length!

There must be a standard by which to measure all things. A “standard” is “something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.” Standard weights and measures are necessary to keep merchants honest and construction projects safe. A standard of law is necessary to fairly govern a country, state, county, or city.

But most importantly, a standard of truth is vitally necessary or nothing else matters. Our founding fathers knew that when they wrote the Constitution. Their truth standard is the same one that God has provided to all who love truth: the Bible, which is His revelation for all mankind.

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” George Orwell, Author of 1984

Friday, June 19, 2009

A Departure

I've been trying to write a post about the next "bite" in the Constitution for days now. Unfortunately I've been sidetracked by all the House and Senate bills, executive orders, etc. etc. that keep steamrolling over the American people each and every day!

The heritage of freedom that our founding fathers left to us is critically endangered by the current administration. We may have already reached the point of no return.

I believe with all my heart that a majority of the American people still believe in the ideals of freedom. We've just been so busy working and raising our families, participating in our communities and our church families that we have allowed a gradual erosion of individual freedoms over the last several decades.

Now the pace is horrifically accelerated and it seems there's nothing we can do about it individually. The entire federal government and their lapdogs in the media have become so out of touch with reality and God's absolute truth that they are living in a three-ring circus inside a Salvador Dali painting!

When I become discouraged, I remind myself that none of this is too big for God. He is and always has been in charge of govern- ments. No government is established without His approval. I want so much to DO something about the people who are destroying "my" country, but I don't want to go against God's will. Perhaps He is punishing this country for the 50 million babies "legally" destroyed by abortion since Roe v. Wade, the "tolerance" for homosexuality which to Him is an abomination, and the general godlessness and worldliness that have permeated our populace.

I continue to pray and encourage you to do the same. Pray for our nation and its leaders; pray that people's eyes will be opened, that truth will prevail over political correctness. Most of all, pray that Christians everywhere will be bold in standing for the faith, no matter what the consequences.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Money Matters

In order to "coin money and regulate the value thereof," Congress wasted no time in passing the “Mint Act” in 1792 to mint the first coins by the following year. The currency was based on the dollar coin, which was made in either gold or silver. Gold dollar coins were required by law to contain 24.75 grains of pure gold, and silver dollar coins contained 15 times that amount.

Although the government issued “treasury notes” during times of financial difficulties, such as during the War of 1812, the Mexican War (1846) and the 1857 “panic,” the first paper money was not issued until 1861, because of the desperate need for cash during the Civil War.

Congress established the Federal Reserve System in 1913. There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks across the nation, each given a letter of the alphabet and a number (which you can find on individual bills). For example, Kansas City, MO issues bills with a “J” inside the seal and below the upper left serial number.

Beginning with the Great Depression, many changes in our monetary system have taken place. Gold is no longer the medium of exchange. Although paper money is still used in transactions, more and more exchanges are made electronically between one’s bank and whatever business or entity is providing a service or commodity.

There’s a huge difference between a metallic system of gold and silver coins and an electronic system. As we have seen in the last year, enormous sums of our tax money are being spent by an out of control government with no thought as to how the debt is to be repaid.

Will we see similar hyperinflation as the Germans did during the Weimar Republic of the 1920’s? Their paper money became practically worthless as prices increased so rapidly that inflation exploded out of control. Could we see the day that a loaf of bread costs $1,000? If our current government doesn’t stop their headlong plunge into debt, we might.

“The modern Banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banks can in fact inflate, mint and unmint the modern ledger-entry currency.” --Major L. L. B. Angus

Friday, June 12, 2009

Uniform Bankruptcies?

Congress is also to establish “uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.”

It is beyond the scope of this blog to go into the different types of bankruptcies, but basically this process is used to help companies having financial difficulties. Unprofitable companies either die a natural death or “reorganize” to become more profitable. Up until now bankruptcy has been part of doing business in our capitalistic economy.

Now the federal government has gone beyond the scope of the Constitution and decided which companies are “too big to fail” by stealing billions of our tax dollars to bail out a select few rather than leave them alone to either fold or reorganize on their own. Rather than making the noble choice to refuse unconstitutional bailouts, these companies have allowed a terrible precedence—takeover of private industry by an administration determined to seize more and more power over We the People.

Whenever federal monies are “offered” to businesses, universities, public schools, organizations or individuals, there are always strings attached. By accepting federal money, the government sees the recipient as obligated or beholden to them and takes advantage of every opportunity to insert their bureaucratic tentacles where they don’t belong.

Although they will deny it, those in power believe the general populace is too ignorant to make our own decisions about anything. Either by misplaced good intentions or blind greed for unlimited power over their fellow Americans, they intend to make slaves of us all.

“Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals -- that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government -- that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government.” --Ayn Rand

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Uniform Naturalization?

In Section 8 Congress is to “establish a uniform rule for naturalization.” “Uniform” means consistent, unvarying. To “naturalize” someone is “to invest an alien with the rights and privileges of a citizen.”

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website lists these requirements laid down by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act: (1) a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the U.S., (2) residence in a particular USCIS district prior to filing, (3) ability to read, write, and speak English, (4) knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government, (5) good moral character, (6) attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, and (7) favorable disposition toward the U.S.

The oath of allegiance for naturalized U.S. citizens is this: "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

So why are there so many illegal aliens in this country receiving “the rights and privileges of a citizen” without having met the requirements of naturalization? There are an estimated 12 to 20 million living here illegally burdening our economy with an estimated $67 to $87 billion each year. There is nothing “uniform” about that!

“Political correctness is simply tyranny with manners.” –Charlton Heston

Monday, June 8, 2009

Regulating Commerce

In the last fifty years, the “Commerce Clause” in Section 8 has been questionably cited for the purpose of expanding congressional powers. The word “commerce” has several definitions: (1) the interchange of goods and services, especially on a large scale; trade or business; (2) social relations, especially the exchange of views, attitudes, etc.; (3) sexual intercourse; (4) intellectual or spiritual interchange; communion.

Clearly definitions 3 and 4 are not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. It seems obvious that definition 1 is what is meant, especially since Congress is to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.”

But the “clause” has grown and become more complex as the United States economy has grown. With the advent of FDR’s “New Deal,” Congress began to address national social problems, often citing this clause as the constitutional basis for their increasing control over the private sector.

The authors of the Constitution must be turning in their graves at what is happening now as the federal government has seized control of private corporations such as AIG and GM! This is definitely NOT what they had in mind when they granted Congress the power to “regulate commerce.”

Those who lust for power and wealth read what they want to read in the Constitution. That is why the standard of absolute truth and the application of it with “common” sense is so necessary for We the People to remain free.

“Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself -- and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.” --Chief Joseph

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Debt & Deficit

Congress is authorized in Article I, Section 8 “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” One definition of “credit” is “confidence in a purchaser’s ability and intention to pay, displayed by entrusting him with goods or services without immediate payment.”

In other words, Congress is authorized to borrow money to pay for government “services” on credit, on the confidence that the United States (i.e., “We the People Taxpayers”) will repay the debt.

This National Debt is the amount owed by the government. The federal budget deficit calculates on an annual basis how much government spending exceeds income (from our taxes).

At the beginning of 1791, the National Debt was $75 million. According to treasurydirect.gov, the national debt as of June 4, 2009 was over $11 trillion. That’s 11 with twelve zeros after it. It’s such an enormous number that our brains have trouble wrapping around the concept.

What would happen if each of us kept spending more than we earned each month by racking up credit card debt? As the debt grew, so would the interest. What if each of us owed “just” one million dollars? How many of us could ever repay such a debt? One trillion equals one million million!

The Wall Street Journal’s June 4, 2009 issue quotes the White House as saying the 2009 federal budget deficit is estimated to exceed $1.8 trillion (compared with $1.1 billion in 1970). Whatever happened to the concept of balancing the budget?

The National Debt Clock states that, as of today, each of the nation’s 306,327,592 citizens has as their share of the National Debt: $37,220.04. Congratulations! You’ve just been sold into slavery!

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” --Marcus Tullius Cicero

Friday, June 5, 2009

Uniform Taxation

Section 8 of Article I states the specific things that the Congress is empowered to do. It begins with “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.”

Taxes are sums of money levied (collected) upon incomes, property, or sales of goods. Duties are taxes imposed by law on the import or export of goods. An impost is “a tax, tribute, duty; a customs duty.” Excises are taxes levied on the manufacture, sale, or consumption of commodities such as liquor and tobacco, as well as taxes levied for a license to pursue certain employments or sports.

We the People understand that the funds to “pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare” of the nation have to come from somewhere. But just as our individual households budget our income and try to live within our means, we expect our government to do the same.

Unfortunately that is not the case.

And what about the phrase, “all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”? Uniform is defined as “identical, consistent, unvarying.” How does our current system of taxation fit that definition, especially in the case of income taxes? The majority of income taxes are paid by a very small percent of wage earners. And as we discovered early in the current administration, many government officials who make substantial salaries are paying NO taxes at all!

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” --Frederic Bastiat

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Compensation for Services

Article I, Section 6 says that members of both Houses of Congress “shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States.”

Benjamin Franklin suggested that elected officials serve without pay, but others in the Constitutional Convention decided otherwise. Could it be that Franklin imagined the motive for “service” being corrupted by the love of money?

Consider this: Between 1789 and 1855, members of Congress received a daily payment or “per diem” of $6.00 while in session. (From December 1815 to March 1817 this was changed to $1,500 per year.) In 1855, Congress members began receiving an annual salary of $3,000 per year.

Currently the “rank and file” members of Congress receive $174,000 per year. The Speaker of the House receives $223,500 and other House and Senate leaders $193,400. This does not include retirement, health care, and other “perks,” such as limousines, choice spots at Washington airports, travel to states and districts as well as other destinations (including overseas), private banking, health spas, fine office furnishings, office staff to perform “constituent services” including doling out pork-barrel spending, and what insulates them from the rest of us, exemptions and immunities from tax, pension, and other laws that burden private citizens.

More insidious is the nebulous “franking privilege” which gives each of these “lawmakers” millions of our tax dollars to create a favorable public image, thus giving the incumbent an unfair advantage during elections. In fact, it seems that “re-election” has become the most important “duty” of House and Senate members. This is yet another reason why our nation must return to the values upon which the Constitution was originally founded. Public service should be about service, not gaining wealth and power.

“Abuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we’re not vigilant.” --Clint Eastwood

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Why Morality Matters

Section 5 of Article I states that “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.”

Defining “disorderly behavior” requires first having a universal standard of right and wrong. When the Constitution was penned, that standard was the Bible, the Word of God. Over the years, especially in the last 40-50 years, values clarification and moral relativism have been taught to children in our public schools. This resulted in a gradual erosion of standards of acceptable behaviors. As a result the bedrock of our national morality has crumbled.

There was a time when “disorderly behavior” would have been universally understood to include crimes such as fornication with young interns, manslaughter (does Chappaquiddick ring a bell?), taking of bribes, embezzling public funds (or private ones for that matter), lying while under oath, lying while NOT under oath, etc., etc.

When We the People turn a blind eye to decaying morals, we shouldn’t be surprised to find immorality among our elected officials. America is, in the eloquent words of Robert H. Bork, “slouching towards Gomorrah.”

“America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” --Josef Stalin

Monday, June 1, 2009

One Day in the Year

Section 4 of Article I has an interesting statement: “The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.”

What a different country this would be if Congress only met one day each year! We the People would have true freedom, unfettered by the gadzillions of laws, some of them ridiculous, that Congress has enacted over the years in order to give themselves “job security.”

Our Senators and Representatives wouldn’t vote themselves exorbitant raises, full retirement benefits, plush health care system, private banking, perks of every kind and description, because serving in Congress would not be their job. They would take a week’s vacation from their real jobs in the real world to allow for travel time, meet for one day, maybe two or three at the most, to consider a few important bills, shake hands and go home for the year. No filibusters, bloated partisan speeches, pontificating, or otherwise making a pompous spectacle of themselves day after day after day.

Because “serving” in Congress has become a profitable enterprise, Washington D.C. is a true “ivory tower” insulated from the real world and the real concerns of We the People. In voting for themselves lavish lifestyles separate and apart from the laws they enact for the rest of us, members of Congress have become totally out of touch aliens from another planet in comparison to the original vision of the Constitution.

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” --James Madison