Dr Williams nails it again. I know the Dems that visit this site as well as most of the independents too have already said the hell with our Constitution. It's time we take back our country and our liberty!
Quote:
A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009
American Idea
Americans are harder workers, more philanthropic, individualistic, self-reliant, anti-government than people in most other countries. We’ve turned what was an 18th-century Third World nation into the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind’s entire history. Throughout our history, United States has been a magnet for immigrants around the world. What accounts for what some have called American exceptionalism?
We Americans, as human beings, are no different from any other people, including Germans, Russians, Chinese, Africans and other people who have produced tyrannical regimes such as those of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Idi Amin. As such we are just as capable of committing acts of gross evil that have been a part of mankind throughout his history. We’ve not been a perfect nation but we’ve never approached the level of hideousness seen in other nations. That’s despite the fact that our population consists of people who have for centuries been trying to slaughter one another in their home countries, whether it’s between the French and Germans, English and Irish, ***anese and Chinese, or Palestinians and Jews, Igbos and the Hausa of Nigeria. Thrown into the American mosaic are religions that have been in conflict for centuries such as Catholic and Protestant, and Christian and Muslim. The question is: Why is the United States an exception and will it remain so?
At the heart of the American idea is the deep distrust and suspicion the founders of our nation had for government, distrust and suspicion not shared as much by today’s Americans. Some of the founders’ distrust is seen in our Constitution’s language such as Congress shall not: abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, violate and deny. If the founders did not believe Congress would abuse our God-given rights, they would not have provided those protections. After all, one would not expect to find a Bill of Rights in Heaven; it would be an affront to God. Other founder distrust for government is found in the Constitution’s separation of powers, checks and balances and the several anti-majoritarian provisions such as the Electoral College and the requirement that three-quarters of state legislatures ratify changes in the Constitution.
The three branches of our federal government are no longer bound by the Constitution as the framers envisioned and what is worse is American ignorance and acceptance of such rogue behavior. Look at the current debate over government involvement in health, business bailouts and stimulus packages. The debate centers around questions as whether such involvement is a good idea or a bad idea and whether one program is more costly than another. Those questions are entirely irrelevant to what should be debated, namely: Is such government involvement in our lives permissible under the U.S. Constitution?
That question is not part of the debate. The American people, along with our elected representatives, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, care less about what is and what is not permissible under our Constitution. They think Congress has the right to do anything upon which they can secure a majority vote, whether they have the constitutional or moral authority to do so or not. What Congress does have is the brute force to enforce compliance with their unconstitutional acts. You say, "What do you mean, Williams?" Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to tax and spend for the enumerated activities therein. Every American is duty bound to pay his share. Congress has neither constitution nor moral authority to take the earnings of one American for the benefit of another American. What do you think will happen to you if don’t comply, say with Congress' demand that part of your earnings be taken to bail out a failing business? You’ll see all the brute force that you want to see and if you resist too much, death is not off the table.
We are losing what’s made our country great. Instead of moving toward greater liberty, we’re moving toward greater government control of our lives.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Congress and a POTUS de-regulated the financial market in the face of testimony that indicated that a financial meltdown would result from their action. Not to matter, congress then bailed out the banks and investment firms that they de-regulated.
Congress and a POTUS de-regulated the financial market in the face of testimony that indicated that a financial meltdown would result from their action. Not to matter, congress then bailed out the banks and investment firms that they de-regulated.
Bull****, that's not at all what happened. No deregulation took place that caused the melt down. This melt down was caused by over regulatiuon by congress and you know it. If the banks weren't forced to make loans to those who couldn't afford them, the loans would never have been made.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
This is a great article. This was one of my points in debating the healthcare issue with Boysda, and it's what I think every time I see a stupid republican offering amendment's to these stupid democrat, healthcare reform bills... what is in this bill or that bill is irrelevant. There shouldn't be a bill. Period. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to be peddling in these affairs.
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"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." G.K. Chesterton
BS back at you, FM. De-regulation had very much to do with the financial meltdown. So did the government insistence on making home loans to folks who could not afford them. So did predatory lending by the mortgage companies.
The financial gurus packaged home loans into bundles and sold them derivatives. Millions of homes were overpriced and over valued. When the values of those homes went south the Wall St. derivatives market also went south.
The AGs of all 50 states tried to enforce state law on predatory lending. The Bush administration fought that and won 5-4 in SCOTUS.
BS back at you, FM. De-regulation had very much to do with the financial meltdown. So did the government insistence on making home loans to folks who could not afford them. So did predatory lending by the mortgage companies.
The financial gurus packaged home loans into bundles and sold them derivatives. Millions of homes were overpriced and over valued. When the values of those homes went south the Wall St. derivatives market also went south.
The AGs of all 50 states tried to enforce state law on predatory lending. The Bush administration fought that and won 5-4 in SCOTUS.
Falcon, I agree with you again.. What's happening here?
Falcon, I agree with you again.. What's happening here?
It must be the tides ore something.
That financial debacle required the combined efforts of politicians from all over the spectrum. i really feel sorry for the young folks and those who are not yet born: They are faced with a crushing national debt.
The financial gurus packaged home loans into bundles and sold them derivatives.
Derivatives didn't cause this problem. The over regulating on the banks and forcing them to make bad loans was the problem. You can sell deratives all day long and nothing will happen. There's nothing wrong with doing so. However, when people refuse to pay for their loans that they signed on the dotted line for, all heck breaks loose. However, I'm not sure there ever was a major crisis since none of the bailout money went to where it was suppose to go and the government has no clue where it went.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
I may have to go with FM insofar as derivatives were a natural business product of the debt being incurred by mortgagees. These were traded for years and years and are a part of most financial institutions' business. But when you cannot or will not pay your mortgage, and hundreds of thousands follow suit, the financial system gets sucked into the vacuum. But this was not the only thing we had to contend with...why did people stop paying their mortgages ? We were dealing with massive job losses, layoffs due to outsourcing which was hailed by all as a boon to capitalism and the like. But even with the massive job losses that preceeded the meltdown, which SHOULD have resulted in some sort of financial slump, I do not believe it would ever have been anywhere as bad as it is now if the "Great Stainmaker" Bill Klinton had not mandated under penalty, the mortgaging of unqualified applicants. You can jump up and down all you want about predatory practices, but when you lend to someone who can't pay you back, you should not be surprised when you get stiffed on the loan.
American Idea
