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Dec 21, 2003 I have written two previous articles on the constitution. Again I must point out that I am not an expert on the constitution, but I don't feel that excludes me from writing about it. So here I am for a third time on the subject. My first two articles focused on our loss of rights because of constitutional abuse. I still feel that way and will even touch on that again. However, I feel that ignorance on the part of the people plays an equal role. (If I had my way every student would have to study the constitution every year in high school, that is how strongly I feel on the subject) The first change that I think is necessary is that congress needs to reclaim its war powers. No I am not turning into a Bushphobe.I think we did the right thing going into Iraq, and afghanistan. I just believe in checks and balances. Congress largely gave up the right with the gulf of tonkin resolutions. Presidents shouldn't have monarchial powers.Congress can vote on authorizing the use of force but it can be ignored. If congress had voted no on Iraq, Bush could have invaded the country anyway. Declarations of war should be needed. Congress needs to reclaim its powers there. The second change that is needed is a redifnement of the judicial powers, and fast. For example, the constitution says that"The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour.." We need to remove some judges then, ignoring the constitution does not sound like good behavior to me. Secondly what constitutes good behavior needs to be clarified. Criminal activity? Unconstitutional decisions? Ruling from the bench? Judicial activism? We need to be explicit in the powers of the courts. Don't get me wrong, I believe that we need an independent judiciary, we just don't need an all powerful one. Other changes I would like to see made are the repealing of the 16th and 17th amendments. The power to lay income taxes and the people directly electing their senators. These are the only two amendments that I don't like, they do no good, they secure no rights to the people of this nation. When someone has power to take part of your income then there is serious trouble. It's our money we should keep it. Now if that sounds too simplistic then try this. Money is power. The more money the government has the more power it has.Believe me the government has too much power. the government that governs least governs best, and to make it govern less you have to break its piggy bank. Milton Friedman said that anyone that gives more than 50% of its money to the government can not call themselves free. We are getting close to that. We celebrate tax cuts, when that is like being happy when a thief returns a few cents. Now there are those that believe getting rid of the income tax would be getting rid of the government. 1) I don't believe that would be a bad thing. 2) Our government functioned with enough money for more than a century without being able to take our income. Now being critical of electing our senators is practically being a facist. I disagree though. The senate was designed to be a body of statesmen. That's hard to do when senators act like politicians trying to get themselves reelected. Again we got along fine when state legislatures chose senators. An indirect approach may have worked best. We had some of our best senators under the old system. This also gives the states some power over the federal government. When senators were chosen by the state legislature senators made sure they didn't anger the states by taking away their rights. Senators were supposed to be like ambassadors from the states, now all they do is get pork for their states. Now I don't want anyone thinking me and elitist or that we should change the constitution on a whim. It should be done carefully and only to secure the rights of the citizens of this nation. ------------ Email Craig Chamberlain: craig_chamberlain@hotmail.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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