Free Republic

Census of Freemen and Slaves. Three-Fifths Rule. Wealth v. Population in First Branch. Periodic or Occasional Census. In Convention. Mr. RANDOLPH's motion requiring the Legislre. to take a periodical census for the purpose of redressing inequalities in the Representation, was resumed. Mr. SHERMAN was agst. shackling the Legislature too much. We ought to choose wise & good men, and then confide in them. Mr. MASON. The greater the difficulty we find in fixing a proper rule of Representation, the more unwilling ought we to be, to throw the task from ourselves, on the Genl. Legislre. He did not object to...

An Empire Built on Sand ~~ By: Larry Walker, Jr. ~Those of us who lived through the financial crisis of 2008 are most familiar with the drawbacks of fractional-reserve banking. It's core theory, that wealth is created through debt, is now so ridiculously out of control, that every newborn American citizen today enters this world more than $46,000 in debt. Those naive enough to think that America’s most pressing problem started in January of 2001, or some other arbitrary date, need to look back a bit further, to 1913 to be precise. In America, taxpayers have been the suckers, while...

Apportionment in First House of Reps. Population Statistics. Slavery. Trade. Periodic Census. In Convention. Mr. KING reported from the Come. yesterday appointed that the States at the 1st. meeting of the General Legislature, should be represented by 65 members in the following proportions, to wit. N. Hamshire by 3. Masts. 8. R. 1st. 1. Cont. 5. N. Y. 6. N. J. 4. Pa. 8. Del. 1. Md. 6. Va. 10. N. C. 5. S. C. 5. Georgia 3. Mr. RUTLIDGE moved that N. Hampshire be reduced from 3 to 2. members. Her numbers did not entitle her to 3 and...

Another Border Patrol agent on the southwest border is facing a long prison sentence for doing his job. Isn't it amazing how this happens only on the southwest border and never the Canadian border? Veteran agent Jesus Diaz faces a sentence of five to 25 years in federal prison for "mistreating" an illegal alien who was apprehended crossing the border near Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2008. The man was handcuffed, and allegedly, Diaz lifted his handcuffs to force him to the ground because he was not cooperative. For this "offense" Diaz was prosecuted by U.S. attorney for the West Texas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRjKWq4NRdkThis is going to be politically correct and albeit offensive to some but tax payer funded police DOES NOT WORK. Like other positions in government there is no incentive that exists for employees to do good most in fact tag along for free handouts from the taxpayers. Add to this liberal communists in power expect us to be solely dependent on them for assistance. Our founding fathers NEVER expected us to be fully dependent on them. This is one of the reasons we have the 2nd amendment. The other thing is that government control means more of an attachment and...

Apportionment in First House of Reps. Keep New States Down. Slaves as Men or Property. In Convention. Mr. Daniel Carroll from Maryland took his Seat. Mr. Govr. MORRIS delivered a report from the Come. of 5 members to whom was committed the clause in the Report of the Come. consisting of a member from each State, stating the proper ratio of Representatives in the 1st. branch, to be as 1 to every 40,000 inhabitants, as follows viz "The Committee to whom was referred the 1st. clause of the 1st. proposition reported from the grand Committee, beg leave to report I....

Chairmen of the Committee of Education and the Workforce Rep. John Kline (R-MN) held a hearing on whether Big Labor’s pressure to speed up union elections has a detrimental impact of workers’ free choice. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has introduced a new proposal, ostensibly to modernize what it believes to be an anachronistic set of rules, but surreptitiously favors bully union practices and puts an undue burden on small business. Chairmen Kline opened with a quote from the Wall Street Journal. Solemnly stating, “The stumbling recovery has also proven to be the worst since the economic disaster of...

The Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and her bureaucrat underlings came under fire once again in a hearing on Wednesday for the agency’s decision to lease 900,000 square feet of unneeded office space at Constitution Center in downtown Washington, D.C. The bureaucrats that pulled the trigger obligated the taxpayers to pay $556 million in lease obligations over the course of the next 10 years. Rest assured these bureaucrats are going to have some major legal problems if the Department of Justice (DOJ) pursues a criminal investigation on the $556 million lease debacle. The DOJ is most likely looking...

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush was promised $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes by Congressional Democrats. That's not what happened. All $137 billion in tax hikes went through. Most notable was raising the top marginal tax rate from 28 percent (the Reagan low) to 31 percent (itself a setup for the 1993 Clinton tax hike of this rate all the way up to 39.6 percent). There were also increases in "sin" taxes and the Medicare payroll tax, as well as the yacht "luxury tax" that President Obama seems so intent on re-visiting on the jet...

Hey everyone this is my first article in over six months, before I get to todays topic I want to update all my fans and readers on what has been going on. First of all as you know I have been focusing mainly on my vlog on youtube also called mainestategop and on starting a new libertarian organization based on the tyranny response team which I and many friends of mine are members. The organization is called the New England Alliance for Liberty and Free Markets. Were hoping to hold a convention next year either in Concord or Portsmouth. You...

The House Judiciary Committee today moved forward critically important legislation to curb state efforts to force out-of-state, non-resident businesses to pay income tax. The Business Activity Tax Simplification Act, or BATSA (H.R. 1439) would prevent states from reaching across their borders by setting a uniform physical presence threshold for when a state may target an out-of-state business for income tax. States across the country have begun to throw their tax burdens onto out-of-state businesses and individuals to collect more tax revenue and grow the size of government. In doing so, they have gradually replaced the “physical nexus” standard for tax...

Many view the White House meeting today as a sign that the debt ceiling debate is reaching critical mass - especially as Treasury continues to demogogue the August 2 deadline it has set for the exhaustion of U.S. borrowing authority. However, it is important to note that default does not even pose a remote threat at this point; the United States takes in ten times in revenue what it needs to service its debt, and can stil afford to pay out major entitelment obligations as well. What's more, Treasury's posturing on deafult belies the fact that it gets to make...

Second Branch Suffrage. What of Enumerated Powers? G. Morris Speech. In Convention. [FN1] "Shall the clause allowing each State one vote in the 2d. branch, stand as part of the Report"? being taken up Mr. GERRY. This is the critical question. He had rather agree to it than have no accomodation. A Governt. short of a proper national plan, if generally acceptable, would be preferable to a proper one which if it could be carried at all, would operate on discontented States. He thought it would be best to suspend the [FN2] question till the Comme. yesterday appointed, [FN3] should...

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich) announced yesterday that House Republicans will not be extending a harmful tax on jobs, known as the FUTA surtax: “The time was October 1976. KC and the Sunshine Band encouraged Americans to 'Shake Your Booty' and the Bee Gees proclaimed that 'You Should Be Dancing.' And Congress created a supposedly 'temporary' Federal unemployment tax on jobs, sometimes called the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) 'surtax.' Today, after 35 years and eight separate extensions of this provision, the surtax will expire as House Republicans, led by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) have refused to...

Wealth v. Population in First Branch. Forty-Thousand Clause Sent to Committee. Money Bills. In Convention. Mr. Govr. MORRIS moved to commit so much of the Report as relates to "One member for every 40,000 inhabitants" His view was that they might absolutely fix the number for each State in the first instance; leaving the Legislature at liberty to provide for changes in the relative importance of the States, and for the case of new States. Mr. WILSON 2ded. the motion; but with a view of leaving the Committee under no implied shackles. Mr. GHORUM apprehended great inconveniency [FN1] from fixing...

I have always said that if you want to know about "original intent", you should read what the Founders said and wrote, not what a Judge tells you they meant. Some people may not be aware that there is more information (regarding the meaning and intent of legislation) to be had by reading the debates in Congress. I have recently been perusing the debates in Congress regarding the "Naturalization Act of 1790." This act specifically forbids the Child of an American woman and a Foreign father from being considered an American citizen, unless the Father comes to America to becomes...

Cato Institute Senior Fellow Dan Mitchell explains how the left will attempt to raise taxes on American families and small businesses: “The real threat is back-door hikes resulting from the elimination and/or reduction of so-called tax breaks. The big spenders on the left are being very clever about this effort, appealing to anti-spending and pro-tax reform sentiments by arguing that it is important to get rid of ‘tax expenditures” and “spending in the tax code...’” Read more: http://www.atr.org/eliminating-tax-expenditures-left-wing-code-a6309#ixzz1RGfuAhOT

Today marks the one year anniversary of the implementation of the Obamacare indoor tanning tax. The punitive 10 percent tax was among the first of twenty-one Obamacare tax hikes to take effect, and is just one of the seven Obamacare tax hikes that break President Obama’s “firm pledge” that no family making less than $250,000 per year would see “any form of tax increase.” Taken together, the full slate of Obamacare tax hikes constitute one of the largest tax increases in American history – more than $500 billion over ten years. On April 14, the first of these tax hikes...

...The proposed Net Neutrality rules look to limit how Internet Service Providers manage data flowing on their networks. Yet, under the FCC’s new interpretation of its statutory authority, if the rules are legitimized they open the door to regulating virtually any aspect of the Internet. What the FCC fails to recognize is that the Internet did not come to be the powerful entity that it is today by acting under burdensome government regulations. The Internet grew in a relatively free marketplace, unfettered by harmful governmental policies. While the FCC has stated that they have regulatory authority to enact Net Neutrality...

Committee Report. First Proposition Postponed. Madison Speech. High Emotion. Morris Speech. Bedford Speech. Dissolution and Foreign Influence. Proportional Representation by Taxes Remitted. In Convention Mr. GERRY delivered in from the Committee appointed on Monday last the following Report. "The Committee to whom was referred the 8th. Resol. of the Report from the Committee of the whole House, and so much of the 7th. as has not been decided on, submit the following Report: That the subsequent propositions be recommended to the Convention on condition that both shall be generally adopted. 1. That in the 1st. branch of the Legislature each...