It Is the Federal Government’s Duty to Stop California

During this last election in California our ballot showed only two Democrats as candidates for US Senator—no Republicans, no independents. Making matters even worse was that the system would not allow write-in votes, which has been a privilege exercised by the voters since the beginning of this nation. The change was due to the Democrats modifying the primary system so it would allow only the two top candidates from the primary to enter the general election. Properly exercised, this modification could, and did, eliminate their republican competitors at the primary level. This system, when combined with the state’s lack of voter identification, unverified mail-in ballots and unconstitutional sanctuary policies, may be good for their party, but it is posing a danger to the entire nation as it poisons the federal government with new officers from the enterprising faction. The Federal Government must step in and stop this before it is too late.

The Feds have the obligation to do so since our Constitution gives them that power. In Article IV, Section 4 is the following text, which is the ONLY guarantee in the Constitution:

“The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.” This Section of the Constitution is important. The writers understood that it made little sense to have a nation comprised of states with different forms of government, such as monarchies, mob-rule democracies, dictatorships or aristocracies scattered across the nation, because those rogue governments would eventually deliver officers to federal positions that would bring chaos and eventually dismantle the republic. For a symphony of governments to work, they must be reading from the same sheets of music—they must be the same forms of government: republican. This is why the founders provided a guarantee, not a suggestion.

Many people have not heard of this section of the Constitution, which may end up being more important than our Bill of Rights. It gives the federal government the power, and the duty, to properly deal with rogue states. One Senator, Charles Sumner, called it “a sleeping giant” back in 1867.

Sumner’s name may be familiar to some of you. Senator Sumner represented Massachusetts in the mid 1800’s and was vigorously anti-slavery. He often got personal in his remarks as he debated pro-slavery senators. One time in 1856 he went too far in his depictions of South Carolina and its slave owners, insulting them by inferring that some slave owners used their slaves for sexual favors. Those were fighting words. Shortly after the speech he was confronted by Representative Preston Brooks, who walked up to Sumner on the Senate floor and proceeded to beat him severely with a gold-headed cane. During the assault the cane broke from the strikes on Sumner, yet Brooks continued to beat him to unconsciousness with what was left of the cane. It took months for Sumner to recover. But slavery is now history, and we now face another serious problem with Sumner’s “sleeping giant” ready to strike at the wrongdoers.

You may wonder why I brought that up. California leads the nation in debt; it has put a greater obligation on the future than any other state. Many people call this “debt enslavement,” as the future citizens will have to work for the benefit of others without getting a penny for their work; that is slavery. The beneficiaries of this process will fight all they can to maintain their unearned income, be it pay or other gifts from the government treasury. Expect them to fight with great vigor, even if everything they want is ill-gotten—just like Preston Brooks did.

Despite what it says on its flag, California is not behaving like a republic; it is behaving like an unrestrained popular democracy that continues to lose respect for our constitutional government. California is either horribly managed or brilliantly mismanaged, depending on your political point of view. On one hand, many politicians, state officers and various government employees have gained wealth despite their state sinking in debt—at least they are working. But many people are not; they are finding shelter and comfort in the state’s welfare, care and sanctuary programs.   On the other hand, the national debt clock lists California’s debt at over $420 billion, with other estimates soaring to $1.3 trillion, yet the Democrats were bragging in their campaign ads that they were balancing the budget. Nearly a tenth of its 40 million residents are on welfare, the infrastructure needs work across the state, a need that is largely ignored, and, while the Los Angeles area drivers swelter in traffic jams that take two hours to drive forty miles (in the diamond lanes!), the government is ignoring the freeway system as it pushes billions of dollars on a high speed rail between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The cost of that project has more than doubled from $33 billion to $77 billion, with an expected completion date of 2033. Any rational individual knows that the cost will grow far beyond its last estimate.

Some events in California are not going to stay there—they will affect our nation. The results of this last election will change their representation at the federal level, largely due to the appearance of thousands of provisional and mail-in ballots after the polls closed. Republicans who had led by thousands of votes at the end of election night ended up losing as the the new boxes appeared; virtually all of those votes were for the Democrats. Investigations are being conducted as claims of various types of fraud circulate in the news and Internet.

Something is rotten in California, and it promises to poison the federal government. The Feds must act. But in doing so, they will run into a string of arguments that promise to delay the process, the biggest of which will be the definition of a “republican form of government.”

In studying the founder’s concept of a republic you will enter a maze of differing opinions. Many of their writings claimed that a republic would involve the will of the people, which may have been to ease the public fears of an overly-powerful federal government as the states debated ratification. James Madison, in Federalist 10, defined a republic as a form of government “in which the scheme of representation takes place,” and then offered the system as a cure for the power of a faction because the representatives would tone down the energies that popular movements always create. Well, that was the idea, but times have changed and the electorate has totally changed from Madison’s day, when the people had fought for independence instead of dependence.

Despite all the arguments concerning the definition of a republican form of government, there is one clear point about what a republican form of government is not: a government that caters to the demands of an unrestrained majority. The founders loathed the idea of a government answering to popular will alone, unencumbered by history’s warnings of horrible debt, sinecures and redistributions. Madison stated that “democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been in short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

It is getting to be high noon as the beneficiaries of this last election ready themselves to take their federal offices. A party that has benefited from slamming the future with outrageous debt and disregard for our constitutional principles—and flat-out lying in their oaths of office—is ready to fight against everything and every one who believes in prudent government. For years too many people have been unconcerned with the federal and state debts, which has continually fueled the liberal faction throughout this nation. We are now at a point where it is best to use good management to solve the problem instead of succumbing to a financial collapse. Only a patriotic energy, coupled with a constitutional focus, can pull the reins on the state’s move to more debt and eventual anarchy. It is time to address the issue. Expect a fight and do not shrink from your duty when it starts.

Formatting error after the quote of Article IV, Section 4, which should have a break immediately thereafter. Pardon the error, please.

so....the author wants Federal troops to march in and occupy California?

Not sure I am up for that. If Californians want to SCROOOOO themselves by electing morons it’s their right.

Regulating elections is not an enumerated power for the federal government in the Constitution. Administration of elections is a power reserved to the states and the people.

The founders viewed the states as being different. Under the Constitution if one chooses one party government, a voting age of 15, voting by internet, same day registration, or government paid medical care for all, so be it. If the state tries something that does’t work, the people should pressure their elected representatives to change. If the majority of people of the state fail to take action, they will live with the consequences.

The problem is the California isn’t just screwing themselves. They are dependent and suck the federal government dry. It’s like a child who keeps crapping in their diaper and depending on someone to come and clean it for them.

so....the author wants Federal troops to march in and occupy California?

I'm trying to figure out where you came up with that. There are many other options that work on the problem, not just trying to anger others.

It’s the duty of legal citizen voters to elect a patriot Congress that will actually do its duty to stop renegade states like California. So when are the voters going to do their duty so that Congress will do its duties?

The ill-conceived 17th Amendment desperately needs to be repealed yesterday.

The 16th Amendment can disappear too.

One Democrat: At Least One Vote

It’s a founding principal of American Politics

They are dependent and suck the federal government dry. It’s like a child who keeps crapping in their diaper and depending on someone to come and clean it for them.

We've got a number of states that fit into that category. And yes, I suspect eventually they will all get bailouts.

:: Madison’s day, when the people had fought for independence instead of dependence. ::

Several iterations of this will be used during my holidays.
ThanQ

I’m saying that we can do enormous damage to the whole concept of Federalism if we accept the premise that the Feds can prevent states from harming themselves.

Of course certain things, like a national voter ID law, would make perfect sense.

I have long believed that the 17th Amendment poisoned our government. But from that point the problem metastasized and affected the parties and the electorate. The public demands benefits from government and votes the people into their state legislatures who will fulfill that mission.

Repealing the 17th won’t do a damned thing, especially in California. It may actually make things worse.

The author specifically cited the damage that California would do to the federal government.

But, the feds do have considerable interest in maintaining a union, especially when it concerns a state that has most of the west coast under its power.

Within ten years....the debt in California will leave them no choice but to apply for a zero-interest 100-billion dollar loan and frankly...I don’t think thirty of the 49 states will agree to that. At that point, there will be at least two additional states admitting they will apply within a year or two, and that will close off the whole discussion.

I feel sorry for the California state retirees who fell into this pit, but they all had to figure this out twenty years ago.

No, they do not have the right to “elect” morons. California has a huge number of illegals living in the state which affects the electoral college and the number of representatives to the house. In essence, these morons have stolen representation from the other states, especially the states that are rather sparsely populated. Further, because of the illegal voting, many of whom do not speak English or understand how our govt works, elect two morons to the senate where they can do a great deal of damage to our country, especially egregious because those senators have the job for life because of their rigged primary system. And, if you live in California, and you are not a moron, you will never have a chance to elect a sensible person to office. The stupid things that California does, affects the other 49 states.

I do not think repealing the 17th will make the slightest difference. The actions of my state’s legislature are not impressive. For instance, I am certain that Harry Reid would have been appointed Senator over and over again because of his enormous political power, and the money of the casinos to back him up. Let’s repeal the 26th amendment instead. The vote of the college children has destroyed Berkeley and other beautiful towns across the country.

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