"And then, I get called by a guy that can't buy a pair of pants, I get called names?
---Donald Trump on Jonah Goldberg, July 8, 2015
That's July of 2015. And Goldberg is still looking down to make sure his zipper isn't stuck.
I personally believe if states want their votes to count, they should adopt a model like Nebraska and Maine, but THEY won't. If Kalifornia had such a model, Trump would have picked up significantly more votes.
Um, no, Jonah. You have a career as a pundit because your mom is Lucianne Goldberg. You suck as a writer even after 25 years of doing it.
Jonah is an idiot, but he shouldn’t feel bad, so is George Will.
Congress is already too expensive and useless.
I agree with you about Maine Nebraska and about more in the US House.
We already have too many politicians. Adding more is like throwing gas on a wildfire.
If Congress gets larger, the electoral college gets larger...and not in a manner that helps Republican candidates.
I think I remember reading this at the time and thinking, “Eh, it’s a little clever, but I don’t buy it,” or something to that effect. “Maybe if they were spherical congressmen in a vacuum, it could work ...”
(That’s a “Big Bang Theory” reference, so I wouldn’t have thought it in 2001, but I know what I mean.)
I wonder what Jonah - whom I’ve liked since we were both in college, so long ago - would say about this now.
>>Really good article from Jonah Goldberg from 2001. I agree with his premise that congress should be larger to be more representative of the will of the people. When the country was born, the population ratio was 1 to 30,000. Today, it’s 1 to 600,000!!<<
Do you really want the House to be 2,000-5,000 representatives?
That would be unwieldy to say the least. I am all for gridlock, but since the House controls the purse strings nothing would ever get financed, even the good stuff.
If anyone wonders why Goldberg mentioned Jessica Gavora at the end of the article, it’s because she’s his wife.
If patriots support Trump to politically “force” corrupt Congress to not only surrender state powers that the feds have stolen from the states back to the states, but also put a stop to unconstitutional taxes, taxes that Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers and other express constitutional expenses, then Trump and Congress will probably be able to start spending as much time on the golf course as Obama has.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
In fact, noting that I gladly voted for Trump, I hope that a 2nd term Trump becomes known as a golf course president.
Larger Congress? Not enough hookers.
Its not obvious how a larger congress would solve the problem and not creating others. Lots of problems could be solved by greatly reducing the power of govt, such as money in politics and the need for lobbyists. Both of which are used as influence or protection against govt power.
Yes, this is one of Jonah’s thoughts that is timely. But rather than expand Congress and in so doing expand federal government, he should look at expanding representation and powers at the state level. This expansion and reform can only occur via the Article V movement.
Along with expanding the representational powers of all Americans that hold sway over the House of Representatives, the Senate needs major structural reform and further, powers to state legislatures must be established to provide a strong check on all forms and manifestations of federal government.
NOVEMBER 21, 2016
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3496700/posts?page=23#23
Illustrations associated with an advent of a new historical era ‘THE AMERICAN REFORMATION’:
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AMENDMENT XXVIII (’State Suffrage’)
To restore effective suffrage of State Legislatures to Congress, the following amendment is proposed:
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Section 1.
A Senator in Congress shall be subject to recall by their respective state legislature or by voter referendum in their respective state.
Section 2.
Term limits for Senators in Congress shall be set by vote in their respective state legislatures but in no case shall be set less than twelve years nor more than eighteen years.
Section 3:
The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
************************************************
************************************************
AMENDMENT XXIX (‘Thirty-State Quash Authority’)
To redress the balance of powers between the federal government and the States, the following amendment is proposed:
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Section 1.
Upon a majority vote in three-fifths of state legislatures, specific federal statutes, federal court decisions and executive directives of any form shall be repealed and made void in any state, territory, or possession of the United States.
Section 2.
State legislatures in agreement with results derived from Section 1 of this amendment shall sign a state quash authority directive delineating the specific federal statutes, federal court decisions or federal executive directives affected, said directive addressed and delivered to the Congress of the United States becoming immediately effective as of the date of delivery.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3423235/posts?page=949#949
IMPORTANT NOTE: These illustrations are written in a manner that THE STATES ARE GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY. Amendments should be written so that it is clear that the federal government has no mandate regarding the interpretation or selective enforcement or non-enforcement of these types of amendments.
For example, the flawed 10th Amendment leaves all powers not enumerated in the US Constitution to the States or to the People. However, there is no mechanism left to the states to check the federal government with the 10th Amendment save for the appointment of US Senators by state legislatures which was abolished under the 17th Amendment. As it is, the 10th Amendment jurisdiction is left to the federal judiciary without any voice or role for the States. The result of these compounded errors has yielded a highly centralized federal government whereby power is attained by an enormous federal government and funded by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3461988/posts?page=18#18
________________________________________________
An illustration addressing the 16th Amendment:
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AMENDMENT XXX (‘Sunset and Repeal of the 16th Amendment’)
To facilitate Age-Of-Awareness Connectivity In Funding The Federal Government Of The United States:
************************************************
Section 1.
All forms of federal taxation in the United States, and unto the territories of its jurisdiction, that are derived under the authority of the sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be abolished and repealed by April 16, 2022.
Section 2.
As of April 16, 2022, the sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 3:
Enforcement of federal tax liabilities shall cease as of January 1, 2025 with exceptions granted to active judicial proceedings initiated before January 1, 2025.
************************************************
By ‘Age Of Awareness’ means technologies of connectivity. These technologies did not exist in the 19th century nor at the time of the 1913 installation of the 16th Amendment. Had such suitable technology existed, the 16th Amendment would never have been installed. The 16th Amendment is in fact, a poorly designed instrument proffered by persons of poor judgment, lacking requisite information or awareness of purposes behind the original federal design. It is completely unsuitable in our Age of Awareness.
The 16th, 17th and 18th Amendments are all of the year 1913 and were all done in the era of Woodrow Wilson who either advocated for such amendments or failed to thwart their passage. The 18th was repealed but the 16th and 17th evolved slowly.
The 16th was particularly insidious as its original code was only 14 pages long and imposed a ‘Flat Tax’ rate of 7% on the wealthiest 2% of Americans and a rate of only 1% on the rest of Americans.
The ‘1%’ rate is still used to this day in attempts to impose a state income tax in states where no state income tax exists. The ‘1%’ rate appears innocent, non-threatening, innocuous. It is a backdoor quiet entry to grab power and control. Once inside the system it grows and creeps until it resembles what exists today. Therefore note, any INCOME TAX is a cancer because it is impossible to contain over time. It gives legislators a tool by which they can grab and solidify their own power (legislative angiogenesis).
There is a vastly superior alternative to the income tax. A consumption tax with impact floor is embodied in H.R. 25. Its superiority to any income tax scheme cannot be overstated.
Bookleggers?
Love, Blessed St Leibowitz
I see the real problem as being a permanently sitting congress that feels it needs to "work" to justify its existence. NO! Work less you bastards. Thinking you need to "produce" only leads to more laws and regulations.
Solution: part-time employment (with a salary to match) meeting twice a year--one session in the fall and another in the spring--perhaps six weeks each.
Go home. Run a business. Meet your constituents. Serve them.
I agree with expanding the number of congressmen.
The 435 number was set by F. Roosevelt.
With modern technology this number could be greatly expanded. But limit them to no more than 2 assistants each and add term limits.
Repeal the 17th amendment to give the States more power.
Finally add an amendment so that the Court rulings can be overturned by a 2/3 majority of the states.
These measures would help reign in our out of control Federal Government.
However I don’t expect this to actually happen. Reducing Washington’s power is the last thing that many powerful people want to see happen.
Congress today is filled with a bunch of Democrat @ssholes and Republican @ssholes. Expanding the pool of @ssholes from 435 to 2,435 isn't going to accomplish anything.
"And then, I get called by a guy that can't buy a pair of pants, I get called names?
---Donald Trump on Jonah Goldberg, July 8, 2015
That's July of 2015. And Goldberg is still looking down to make sure his zipper isn't stuck.
“I personally believe if states want their votes to count, they should adopt a model like Nebraska and Maine, but THEY won’t.”
I believe in a county by county model of voting. It needs to be taken down to its lowest common denominator which will prevent disenfranchisement. Right now, one city can determine the winner of an election. This gives rise to cheating. At the county level, cheating is easier to weed out as well as voter rolls being maintained.
As an example, a state like NY has 62 counties. Trump won 46 of them. Why should Clinton Win NY?
Congress doesn’t need expanding. If anything we should emulate Texas, whose legislature only meets like every other year, and then for only 140 days. Then maybe the annual growth of the Federal Register could be measured in pages and not in pounds. Congress is rated by the public just below used car salesmen. And you want more?
These idiots (yeah) have too much leisure time. More representation sounds good, but it doesn’t work large scale. Use school districts as an example. Bloated, top heavy districts pay tons of admin salaries, but nothing EVER happens to benefit the families represented. Herding cats is another example.
Very large, much-removed, bodies of THEORETICAL representatives don’t act like individuals. We need our representatives to be upstanding, greed-resistant citizens, is all.