8 TAFT INDEPENDENT
Liberty Under Fire Fiscal Cliff Process Violated the Constitution. Does Anyone Care? By Dr. Harold Pease
There are few parts of the Constitution more clear than, “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills” (Article I, Section 7, Clause 1). In a vote taken well after midnight (the supposed deadline) December 31, the SENATE passed a bill raising taxes on those with incomes above $400,000 a year, a tax increase on this group from 35% of their annual income to 39.6%, and the removal of tax exemptions for those making $250,000 or more a year. The capitol gains tax on everyone was raised from 15% to 20% and there were many other adjustments on the tax code as well. This bill definitely did not originate in the House of Representatives as required by the Constitution. So, does anyone care? The Senate then forwarded their “revenue raising” bill to the House the day after the deadline presenting them with a single choice, be blamed for taking the country over the so-called fiscal cliff or not. It was blackmail! With no way to modify any of its provisions and the bell having already rung ending the tournament, they agreed. It is true that the House had not presented to the Senate any revenue raising solution as it opposed such, largely because President Barack Obama had made it clear that he would not sign any law that did not raise revenue on the rich. Still, the House is the only body that had authority to do so and their intention not to support a tax increase, by not originating one, should have stood regardless of what the Senate and President thought or wanted. Allowing these other bodies to do so for them has weakened this part of the Constitution and House authority. Henceforth, past practice wrongly will be used to legitimize future revenue raising by the Senate and this part of the Constitution, in effect, will be obliterated. So why should you care? For thousands of years, until the Constitution, governments taxed their citizens whenever and whatever they wished. The people had no say. If the pharaoh in Egypt wanted bricks without straw from the Israelites, for instance, so be it. In our republic we have two legislative bodies, the House to represent the people, and the Senate to represent the individual states. Prior to 1913 the State Legislators elected the Senate so that it could protect the interests of the states from the federal government’s natural inclination to grow, absorbing state functions.
This is called federalism—shared government. The House was to protect the interests of the people as its first and major concern. The power of the purse (both taxing and spending) is one of the most important powers of the Constitution. The Founders resolved that it should be left with the representatives of the people; “all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives (Article I, Section 7).” This made it impossible for the people to be over-taxed for more than two years as all members of this body come up for reelection on the same date—every two years. Addressing this subject James Madison, the father of the Constitution, observed, “This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.” The U.S. Constitution mandates that “the House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of government.” This power alone he added, “can overcome all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government. They, in a word, hold the purse… (The Federalist 58).” Taxes, the historic grievances of the masses of all ages, were left to this body alone to originate or initiate. The significance of this placement cannot be over-stated. In the Constitution only the masses could originate taxes as all revenue for the government came from the backs of the people. In the United States it is impossible to be over-taxed if we are following the Constitution. No other nation in all history, as far as we know, had this protection from their government. Once processed through the House, the Senate could modify as on other bills, but it must first come from the House. This cannot happen without permission from the people’s representatives. This may seem like a small thing given all the hype on the fiscal cliff but the people really do not want to surrender their freedom from excessive taxation, which, prior to this document was virtually unheard of in the history of the world. Losing this is far more serious than what pundits said would be the worst-case scenario of the cliff because, once gone, it is unlikely to be retrieved. Members of congress are doing so incrementally by not insisting that the government stay within its bounds and honor the document that they individually have sworn to uphold. No one will destroy the Constitution all at one time but by their ignorance, or worshipful loyalty to party, are doing so one piece at a time. If your representatives voted for this please send him a copy of this article so that he/she will be more sensitive to this issue in the future. Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 25 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
January 11 - 17, 2013
View From Taft How to Keep that New Year’s Resolution By Jane McCabe
Many of us don’t make New Year’s resolution because we’ve learned from past experience that they are difficult to keep. In a month or two, until next New Year Eve, they’re utterly forgotten. We become discouraged when we don’t keep the resolutions we make and we give up. But, here’s a way to keep the resolutions you make: Be reasonable Make sure the resolutions you make are reasonable. Let’s take the three areas in which people are most likely to want to changes their behavior: smoking, over-eating and drinking. If you smoke, you will do yourself the biggest favor in the world if you will quit. Sometimes quitting will take a number of tries before it takes effect, so don’t become discouraged. Know your enemy—smoking is one of the most insidious habits there is to break because it becomes like second nature to those who smoke and therefore is one of the hardest to break. In fact that’s what’s hard about breaking bad habits—they’ve become part of our opus operandi or what we perceive to be natural for us. It, therefore, for us to change it takes retraining ourselves for a long enough period of time so that what we perceive is natural is our changed behavior. Don’t expect to go it alone—arm yourself with all the anti-smoking aids on the market. The patch, the gum and now Chantix are all very useful in helping people stop smoking. Don’t worry about the price of these medications—think of the money you’ll save when you’re no longer enslaved (especially with the current price of cigarettes.) There are also support groups to encourage people who are trying to change their habits—avail yourself to whatever works for you. Set short-time, manageable goals If you are overweight and decide that you are going to lose 50 pounds in a month, your goal is probably over-reaching and you are therefore likely to fail to achieve it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Set manageable goals for yourself—like, to lose one or two pounds in two weeks. There’s nothing more encouraging than success. When you reach a manageable goal it gives you the encouragement you need to achieve the next goal. Don’t give up if you fail to reach a goal or lapse Say you are used to binging at night when you watch television and will eat a bucket of salty snacks and drink a couple of beers, all of which adds weight. Say you’ve gone two weeks without indulging in this habit—then comes the night when you can no longer resist and you revert back to your old habit. Forgive yourself. You’re human. You’re allowed to regress. Recognize that you are up against a life-time habit. When you fall off the wagon, get up, dust yourself off, and get back on it. Cutting back on drinking may be hard to do Many people struggle with their alcoholic intake. They wonder if in fact they are alcoholics but just won’t admit it. If you would like to reduce your alcohol consumption and feel it will be to your benefit to so (after all, excessive alcohol can damage your kidneys, liver and colon) try to do so. The recommended amount for healthy living is two drinks per day for a man and one for a woman. If you are able to cut back successfully, good for you. If not, you may have to consider a more radical approach—total abstinence. I don’t know the statistics. Before the formation of AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) in the 1930’s alcoholism was considered to be an incurable disease—those afflicted would literally drink themselves to death. Since its formation AA has saved millions of lives around the globe. It is the most successful organization ever. Chapters exist in every town, in every state in the nation and in almost every country of the world. Wherever members go an meeting is just a phone call away. It’s radical surgery, to be sure, but the fellowship works some kind of magic on its members, replacing “fellowship” for the bottle. Perhaps, it is fellowship we were looking for all the time. AA members are as happy a group of people as you’re likely to find… Once a bad habit is conquered, we are so proud of ourselves And we serve as a model for others to do the same… So, don’t give up on yourself. Never give up on yourself. You are a person of value. You were set here for a purpose. You were set here to help others. If you need to lick a bad habit that has been troubling you for years, you can do it. Help is on the way.