Democracy Not Possible; The Constitution Amended

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2401 ^ | William M. Briggs

[mattstat]

There can never, not ever, exist a true one-person, one-vote Democracy. Unless one is on a desert isle with six other mentally capable adult castaways, there will always be children, infants, the insane, the comatose, the demented, the despicable, and so forth, none of whom can vote.

The point of mentioning this trivial truth is that we always—always—must draw arbitrary lines of suffrage. Because these lines grow so familiar that they are no longer seen cannot be an excuse to ban revisiting their justification.

And so, repeal the 17th! That amendment was adopted in 1913 (a year of insanity); it provided for the election of the Senate by the citizenry, removing this privilege from the House. Not only did this switch increase the Government Pandering Index by 328%, but it directed a fire-hose of money at senatorial candidates.

We now have the case where senators spends a substantial—a majority?—of their time raising funds and otherwise shoring up their chances for reelection.

And how about this idea? Because senators must totter from one teat to another, they become more receptive to the pigs who feed them. This, in turn, leads to an increase in the size of government (and corporate power) as the senators battle each other for influence and favor from monies interests.

Speaking Of Amendments

Here’s a picture of when amendments to our constitution happened:...

[Jonah Hex]

Unless one is on a desert isle with six other mentally capable adult castaways...

[screaminsunshine]

The USA is committing OBAMACIDE. While all our enemys cheer.

[wintertime]

Well...Bennett and Hatch would be Senators forever. The Utah legislature would mummify their bodies and have them on permanent display in the U.S. Senate. Ditto with Specter. He would never have had any need to switch parties, and he too would have been embalmed and enthroned in the Senate.

Honestly...Maybe I can be persuaded that repealing the 17th would be a good thing.

[wintertime]

Here’s a picture of when amendments to our constitution happened:...
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Yes! Take a look at that time line!

All it took was two generations of socialist-modeled, Prussian-style, compulsory government schooling.

If you send children into socialist-funded government schools they learn to be SOCIALISTS! Children become comfortable with government taking money from a neighbor to pay for a service their parents want for tuition-FREE!

Is it any wonder that by 1920 we had a nation of socialist busybodies with the hubris to think they could perfect the the Constitution?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

There can never, not ever, exist a true one-person, one-vote Democracy.

Fortunately, the United States is not a democracy.

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

[wintertime]

Until greed finally made its appearance. Both the income tax and direct voting for senators were adopted in the same year; a shocking coincidence.

Socialist government schools produce greedy socialist citizens. What did government schools do for boat loads of immigrants coming to our shores in those years? Yep! Turned them into greedy socialists.

Oh! And...Government schools taught them to think atheisitically as well! My dad ( born 1913) was the second generation to be educated in government schools. His socialist government schooling was utterly godless in its worldview except for a sprinkle of prayer in the morning. Is it any wonder he mistook Franklin D. Roosevelt for Moses?

[wintertime]

Or will the Tea Party introduce a balanced budget, or strict term limits for Congress?
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We **need** the TEA Party! Why? Because our nation is now teetering on the edge of an abyss! Hopefully, the TEA Party can save us from catastrophe.

However.. At the core our nation's citizens are fundamentally “demoralized”, just as Yuri Besmenov warned in the 1980s. Next step: Destabilization!

Unless conservatives come up with a RATIONAL plan to RE-moralize this nation, we are doomed. The U.S. will fall to tyranny and the entire world will suffer a centuries long Dark Age.

Hint: That rational plan to RE-moralization must include shutting down every government K-12 school in the nation. It must include getting the nation's children into private conservative schools that will fully integrate Judeo Christian principles and our nation's founding principles into the woof and weave of every minute of their school day.

[laxcoach]

The 17th should be repealed so that the states have more say in the direction of our federal government. There are good arguments against it:
(a) that Senators are cronies of the most powerful people in state legistlatures
(b) some states end up with no serving Senator because the legislature is stalemated.

I say that the rewards for less centralized governance make it well worth that risk.

I also believe there should be strict constitutional term limits on the house and senate. Personally, I would have it based on the total years of service, regardless of the particular chamber.

[laxcoach]

I would also add a third ammendment that calls for super majorities in both chambers for any law that creates a new tax, alters the structure of taxation, or increases the rate of taxation. Any law that decreases the rate of taxation should not require a super majority.