E-Newsletter No. 86                         February 2021          

Last month, we pointed out the fact that Socialism has an unbroken record of failure everywhere and every time it has been attempted.  We also asserted that Socialism is immoral.  Before we get to the question of morality, let’s review the primary reasons why Socialism has its history of failure.

Socialism runs directly opposite of the American Dream.  It promises to create equal outcomes, but it actually creates a vast inequality between a country’s citizens and the government elites (i.e., the Bernie Sanders types in Washington DC).  This is true in every Communist / Socialist country in the world.  Socialism takes away the benefits of hard work as it strives to create its “equality of outcomes.”

Politicians believe individuals are not capable of making important decisions, so they decide to intrude, rather than allow an individual to make his / her own decisions about what they want out of life.  Socialism inevitably tramples on an individual’s Liberty. A government must use force (coercion) to implement the elites’ decisions.

Freedom of choice is severely limited or eliminated.  This goes well beyond the issue of goods and services in the marketplace.  Taken to its (historical) extreme, Socialism has placed limits on an individual’s ability to choose their own calling in life.   Under a Socialist regime, your ability to keep your current job, or even change careers or follow your own dreams can become severely limited.

Under Socialism, all of a country’s citizens suffer.  Mild Socialism lowers a country’s standard of living.  Severe Socialism leads to mass poverty and deprivation.  This has been proven over and over again in the historical record – – The USSR, Maoist China, North Korea, Cuba, and most recently, Venezuela.  Socialism has left nothing but disaster in its wake.

If “everyone” owns the resources and means of production, then nobody truly owns them.  Socialism is an awful steward of assets.  It makes people careless and wasteful, and it eliminates pride of ownership and any sense of personal responsibility.  It should be noted that not all “renters” are bad people, but they have less of an incentive to protect what they have.

“Robbing Peter to pay Paul” is simply morally wrong.  There is no way to morally justify or rationalize it.  On the other hand, voluntarily using your own time and money to help another individual or family is called benevolence.  Charity and compassion are virtues.  Compliance with government coercion does not provide a moral equivalent.  To demand that everyone pool their resources and the fruits of their own individual efforts into a giant pot to be redistributed by politicians and government elites is morally corrupt and doomed to fail.

Inevitably, power is consolidated within the government.  The forced redistribution of wealth damages the web of relationships we rely upon to live full and meaningful lives.  The recipients of government-granted welfare become trapped in dependency.  Socialism seeks to suppress (replace) the human relationships that are fostered by religious congregations, social services agencies, charities, and other civic organizations.  The government becomes tyrannical when it tries to silence alternative ideas that are at odds with the state’s agenda.

Socialism creates dissent and stifles freedom of speech.  Government control and regulation of the media, political speech, and elections are the norm in Socialist countries.  Anyone with “free thoughts” or who dares to oppose the growing power of the government is viewed as being a threat.

As noted above, Socialism creates dependence instead of freedom.  It destroys peoples’ drive to be self-sufficient or to improve their lot in life.  Within a free society, a person’s creativity, innovation, and hard work are rewarded.  In a Socialist country, only the well-connected are rewarded.  Oftentimes, those rewards are bestowed simply for being a loyal member of the nonproductive bureaucracy.

Friedrich Hayek wrote a book that was published in 1944 entitled The Road to Serfdom.  Hayek warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning.  As many of us know, in medieval times, a “lord of the manor” would rule over his lands and his serfs, who could live on his land in exchange for a place to live, so they could grow crops for their lord and for their own consumption. 

Our Editorial Board has decided to update Friedrich Hayek thesis, by advancing it a few centuries, and bringing it home (to this side of the ocean) to our country’s Southern states in the years that led up to the Civil War, as we make the case that Socialism is Slavery –

Socialism-is-Slavery.pdf (f2ppr.org)

US Debt Clock – – January 1st – $83,400 per citizen / February 1st – $84,150

E-Newsletter No. 85                       January 2021          

The current state of our union is not very healthy.  As many of us would agree, the concept of E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) has been under constant attack by the Left’s identity politics agenda.  The state of our union has been deteriorating for several years, not just the past four or five years.  This 48-second segment in the following video (starting at 1:21:27 to the end) is the most telling example of what has been going on.

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the other members of the radical Left, along with their allies in the mainstream media, have shown nothing but utter contempt for President Trump.  But it goes beyond just President Trump – – it extends to all of the “deplorable” conservatives “who cling to guns and religion.”  It was also suggested that “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will.  And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” (a quote from Hillary Clinton at the April 2015 Women in the World Summit in New York City).  And now, the radical Left is calling for “re-education camps” for conservatives who do not buy into the Socialists’ agenda.

Another telling example of this growing divide can be seen in a one-minute 34-second segment of this video (from 39:18 to 40:52).  The members of our Editorial Board agree with President Trump that Socialism will end up destroying American healthcare. Obviously, based on the reactions of the Leftists in the audience, they disagree.  Our newsletter next month will cover the reasons why Socialism is immoral, and why it has a history of failure everywhere and every time it has been attempted.

Also…. Since the start of our federal government’s fiscal year on October 1^st, the amount of debt that has been pushed onto our children and grandkids has increased by $1 trillion in just three months.  A $900 billion “stimulus” package that was passed in December (in order to keep the government from shutting down) now appears to be inadequate – – the Democrat party wants to tack on an additional $1.9 trillion.  There doesn’t appear to be any end in sight on new ideas for more spending by the federal government.  Unfortunately, if you believe your family is already paying too much in taxes to the government, you haven’t seen anything yet.  In the meantime, the detrimental effect of this uncontrolled spending is simply being pushed downstream.  But then again, we shouldn’t be surprised, because that is what career politicians tend to do. It’s no wonder that Congress’ latest approval rating has slipped into single digits..

US Debt Clock – – December 1st – $82,600 per citizen / January 1st – $83,400

E-Newsletter No. 84                       December 2020          

So,…  What is our Editorial Board’s assessment(s) regarding the various results for the 2020 elections?  We don’t have any yet.  More to follow next month.

In the meantime, we should expect our country’s dysfunctional Congress to pass yet another continuing resolution in the next few days to avoid having the government shut down on December 11^th.  

US Debt Clock – – November 1st – $82,270 per citizen / December 1st – $82,600

E-Newsletter No. 83                       November 2020          

If you haven’t voted already with a Mail-in Ballot, or if you haven’t taken advantage of early voting, there is still time to cast your ballot on Tuesday, November 3^rd.  

When our Foundation was established in 2013, our initial goal was to encourage our country’s citizens to re-embrace our traditional values of self-reliance, self-determination, self-actualization, and social responsibility.  We wanted to re-invigorate civil society, shrink the size and scope of the federal government, and to have each and every individual take personal responsibility for their own life, rather than become dependent upon the federal government.  When we published The 2020 Initiative in June 2016, our primary demand was that the federal government re-establish fiscal responsibility and eliminate the annual deficit.  (Didn’t happen).  Our recommendations included implementing Term Limits, minimizing the federal government’s involvement in our country’s healthcare marketplace, and transforming Social Security into a means-tested welfare benefit.  (Didn’t happen).  It should be readily apparent that each of these initiatives continue to be of utmost importance, because if we do not accomplish these goals, our federal government will continue to coerce huge sums of money from our children and grandchildren and bankrupt the country.  This is an indisputable fact and an inconvenient truth that confronts our country’s citizens.

For anyone who has been paying attention this past year, it is quite apparent that our unalienable rights spelled out in the First, Second and Fourth Amendments are also under attack by the Left. Our country is at the crossroads. We can make a hard left and accept the radical Left’s agenda, or we can move forward with a conservative agenda that advances the concepts of personal responsibility, a limited federal government (“one so small you can barely see it”), a re-energized civil society, and a free market / not socialism.  

George Orwell wrote a book entitled 1984 where he warned his readers about a coercive totalitarian regime, the rise of Big Brother, loyalty to the party, the Thought Police, the Hate Song, the Hate Week Celebration, the loss of individualism, and the loss of all civil Liberties.  Orwell might have been off by thirty-six years, but he wrote his book because he knew the Left’s ultimate goals.

This year’s elections represent yet another round in the ongoing battle to protect our freedoms, Liberty and unalienable rights.  Our country’s citizens need to soundly reject the idea of Bigger Government and additional “government-granted rights.”  We need to shrink the size and scope (and intrusiveness) of the federal government.  Make your vote count.

US Debt Clock – – October 1st – $81,200 per citizen / November 1st – $82,270

E-Newsletter No. 82                       October 2020     

The underlying concepts behind The 2020 Initiative are based on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Tenth Amendment.  Thomas Paine wrote – Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.   Society is produced by our want, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices…. Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one….  

The Tenth Amendment reads – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

As we have written the past several months, our federal government has managed to escape the confines of the US Constitution.  One of the biggest problems our country faces today is that we have collectively lost our Common Sense.  Governments inevitably try to grow and assume more power over people’s lives.  The normal progression is from freedom and liberty, to coercion, to tyranny.  Our country has reached a tipping point regarding socialism because of the ongoing march of the “progressive” movement.  Career politicians are buying huge numbers of votes with baskets full of money.

The 2020 Initiative represents an attempt to use the federal income tax code to help resurrect civil society and take money and power out of the hands of the federal government.  The first step in this process is to implement Term Limits, to reduce the power of career politicians, who will unfortunately try to thwart these efforts and cling to power.  Our country would be much better served, if our elected legislators were to go to Washington DC to advance the interests of the country as a whole and then return home to live under the laws they have passed.  There are plenty of talented people in our country who could make this happen going forward.  We do not need “political elites” in Washington DC to run our lives for us.

We propose taking funds out of the hands of the federal government by letting We-the-People decide where we want to invest our funds.  In connection with the federal government’s annual budgeting process, our elected legislators debate and ultimately decide how much individuals and families will be required to “contribute to society”, but we get to decide where most of those dollars go.  Tax credits for contributions to charities will serve two purposes – the funds will naturally flow to the most pressing issues and to those groups that best fulfill their organization’s mission, and those dollars will not get into the hands of the federal government to be consumed by waste, fraud and abuse.

We recommend (unfortunately) that the regressive taxes associated with the various socialist programs (Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security) will need to stay in place until those programs are fundamentally transformed.  We also believe that no individual / family should pay federal income taxes until their taxable income is sufficient to cover their own cost of living, which needs to include the cost of their own health insurance plan.

We recognize that many of our country’s citizens need assistance from time to time, and therefore, we propose two new questions on the annual federal income tax form where people can request to be eligible for welfare benefits.  BTW, we also believe that every citizen should be counted in an “annual census process” that is accomplished via a requirement that every person needs to be included on a federal income tax return.  The current tax system, which is based on a minimum threshold of income for filing needs to be eliminated, and every citizen should be required to fulfill their obligation to file an annual federal income tax return, even if they do not have any taxable income.  This would also be the means by which they elect to receive welfare benefits.  And we recommend that the Social Security Administration be transformed into an agency that can help those citizens who say they need assistance, by directing those individuals / families to the appropriate local civil society charity(s) that can best help them meet their specific needs.

Our country is at the crossroads.  We can make a hard left and accept the radical Left’s agenda and socialism.  Or we can move forward with a conservative agenda that advances the concepts of personal responsibility, a (very) limited government, a re-energized civil society (that remains civil), and a free market.  This year’s elections represent yet another battle in the ongoing fight to protect our freedoms, Liberty, and unalienable rights. Our country’s citizens need to soundly reject the progressives’ ideas about additional “government-granted rights” (entitlements) which can only be fulfilled by continuing to increase the size and scope of the federal government.

US Debt Clock – – September 1st – $80,888 per citizen / October 1st – $81,200

E-Newsletter No. 81                      September 2020   

These past few months, we have been writing about what’s wrong with the federal government and what We-the-People should do to fix these problems.  Unfortunately, the political elites in Washington DC have very little incentive to make the changes that are needed.  But the Constitution does include Article V, which discusses two methods that can be used to amend the Constitution and make “structural” changes regarding the operation of the federal government.  One method is for Congress to pass a proposed amendment and send it to the states for ratification.   This is the method that has been used so far for each of the 27 amendments that have been made to the Constitution.

But what happens if Congress doesn’t want to make the changes that are needed?  And what happens when the federal government has grown to a point where it has become overly intrusive and coercive?  Fortunately, during the Constitutional Convention in 1787, George Mason, a delegate from Virginia, anticipated the situation that we are now facing today.  He put forward a solution that was incorporated into Article V.  The second method to amend the Constitution is to have two-thirds of the states (34 states) pass a pre-defined resolution to call a Convention of States, to draft proposed amendment(s) that address the issue(s) listed in the resolution.

Currently fifteen states have approved calling such a convention.  We encourage you to go to the website www.conventionofstates.com and learn more about the resolution that has been passed by these fifteen states.  The resolution calls for preparing proposed amendments that would impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.

When our Foundation was started in 2013, our primary focus was on the federal government’s growing debt problem.  We have always pushed for Term Limits as part of the solution to this problem.  However, over the course of the past few years, it now appears that the most important “plank” of the resolution is limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. 

Unfortunately, it will be some time yet before such a convention can be held.  So in the meantime, we have some very critical decisions that need to be made in the upcoming elections in November.  The essence of the question has now become a choice between Big Government collectivism versus an individual’s Freedom and Liberty.  We have added a new Conversation Piece to our Foundation’s website entitled “Left / Right Choices” –

http://www.f2ppr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Left-Right-Choices.pdf

Next month, we will discuss how implementing the recommendations in The 2020 Initiative could also serve to fix a lot of what is wrong with the federal government.

US Debt Clock – – August 1st – $80,525 per citizen / September 1st – $80,888

E-Newsletter No. 80                      August 2020     

This month we wrap up our series of newsletters on what’s wrong with the federal government, and our Editorial Board’s recommendations on what we should do about it.  If you go back to our newsletters the past few months you will note a common theme – – the federal government has simply grown too large and is becoming unmanageable.  This fact is readily apparent when you look at the federal bureaucracy, which is oftentimes referred to as the Administrative State – – the various departments in the unelected “fourth branch” of the federal government.  The massive growth in the federal government since the 1960s has been accompanied by a similar increase in the amount of waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government.

Because of the massive size of the Administrative State, we needed to prepare a separate Conversation Piece to discuss our recommendations on how to drain the swamp – 

https://www.f2ppr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Whats-Wrong-with-the-Administratvei-State.pdf

Please note that this piece does not address the military, because that is a proper role of the federal government, as spelled out in the Constitution.  This piece also does not cover the massive amounts of money spent on the “non-constitutional” “entitlement” programs that have been approved by Congress over the years.  However, we have already laid out our recommendations for transforming these entitlement programs in The 2020 Initiative.  https://f2ppr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-2020-Initiative.pdf

In the above piece, we discuss the federal agencies that are totally appropriate, because they play a vital role in protecting our country’s citizens.  And certain departments are needed to ensure the proper functioning of the federal government.  We also identify and discuss those departments that should be transformed into being a “knowledge resource” for the states, but the day-to-day operations and the administration for those functions should be moved to the states, with appropriate “policy oversight” and support from the federal government.  And lastly, we list those departments that serve no useful purpose and should be eliminated.  The bottom line is that if we were to restructure the Administrative State along these lines, we would be able to significantly reduce the amount of the federal government’s annual deficit.  The remaining spending reductions that would need to occur to eliminate the annual deficit will still need to be accomplished by transforming the various socialist entitlement programs.

As we head into the election season, we wanted to remind everyone that a variety of conservative-themed yard signs are available (for free) in our Store on our website.  https://www.f2ppr.org/store/  

We also have a Videos page on our website –    https://www.f2ppr.org/videos/   Our lead video is entitled “How Big Should Government Be?”  Simply put (and as Dennis Prager explains) “The more control the government has over people’s lives, the less Liberty people have.”

US Debt Clock – – July 1st – $80,200 per citizen / August 1st – $80,525

E-Newsletter No. 79                       July 2020       

This is the fourth installment in a series of monthly newsletters that discuss our Editorial Board’s views on what is wrong with the federal government, and what we should do about it.

Article III of the US Constitution is where the duties and responsibilities of the Judiciary are laid out.  Article III states that… The Judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish…  The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good Behaviour…  The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution…

In our review of the Federalist Papers, it is quite clear that the Framers of the Constitution intended to have the Judiciary be a co-equal branch of the government.  Each of the branches of government has a distinct role and set of responsibilities.  The courts’ responsibilities are to protect the Constitution, as it was written.  Judges who follow this line of thinking are called “originalists”.  Justices are not supposed to “Legislate from the Bench.”  Unfortunately, this happens from time to time, and this is our biggest complaint about the Supreme Court.  By not following the original intent of the Constitution as written, this has allowed each of the other pieces of the federal government (including the Judiciary) to expand outside its “box” (its constraints) established under the Constitution. 

Pretty much every expansion of the federal government that has occurred since our country’s founding is a “non-constitutional” expansion of the federal government, and a violation of the Tenth Amendment.

As mentioned above, the original intent of the Judiciary was to protect the Constitution as it was written.  Unfortunately in the past, certain Presidents, in collaboration with an amenable legislature, have enabled this expansion of the government.  Some of the worst examples of this expansion stem from a re-interpretation of the General Welfare Clause and the Commerce Clause. 

This leads to our second primary complaint – the “politicization” of the Supreme Court.  Instead of approving only those Justices who agree to adhere to the original constitution as written, Presidents will nominate potential Justices who might share their own political philosophy and agenda.  The worst examples of this occurred during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and there was a subsequent massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government.

This is also the reason why the process of nominating (and having the Senate confirm) Justices to the Supreme Court has become so contentious in recent years.  This fact, coupled with the fact that these are (currently) lifetime appointments is the cause of most of this “angst”.    

We put forward the following recommendations –

The Supreme Court should not be allowed to Legislate from the Bench.  The worst example of this occurred in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled in the King v Burwell matter regarding Obamacare that the law written by the legislature regarding the state-operated health insurance exchanges was not the intent of the legislature.  In this particular case, the Court should have ruled – “This is what you wrote.  If that is not what you intended, then you need to fix this legislatively”.

We also make the following recommendation for Term Limits for the Judiciary for several reasons.  We believe there are many well-qualified individuals who can carry out these duties.  Our proposal would cap the length of service at either 25 years in a particular position, or until a maximum age of 80.  Federal judges in the “inferior” courts would be able to have a lengthy career as a federal judge, and if appropriate, finish their career on the Supreme Court until the age of 80.  Our country has a more than adequate pipeline of potential judges who can serve in these roles in the future.  How much this Term Limit proposal could help dampen the politicization of the judiciary is yet to be seen.

US Debt Clock – – June 1st – $77,993 per citizen / July 1st – $80.200

E-Newsletter No. 78                     June 2020      

This is the third installment in a series of monthly newsletters that discuss our Editorial Board’s views on what is wrong with the federal government, and what we should do about it.

The President’s duties and responsibilities are spelled out in the Constitution in Article II, Sections 2 and 3.  Section 2 begins with the following statement – The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…  Section 2 goes on to say that the President “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties…  and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States…” 

The Framers of the Constitution established a federal government with limited, enumerated powers that are focused on protecting the unalienable rights of our country’s citizens and defending our country against any other nation that might want to do us harm.  Unfortunately, due to “Progressive” (expansive) laws that have been passed by the Legislature over the years, the Executive Branch has grown well beyond the intended functions listed above.  Section 2 refers to “principal officers of the executive departments”, which are now commonly referred to as the President’s cabinet.  These executive departments (the Administrative State) are where the growth in the size and scope of the federal government has occurred. 

The various departments of the Administrative State can be sorted into two lists – a list of those vital, appropriate departments that were envisioned in the original Constitution and a list of the other departments that represent a violation of the Tenth Amendment.  The appropriate departments are Defense, State, Commerce (for international and interstate commerce issues), Justice, and Treasury. 

There is also a third “hybrid” list of a few additional departments that are probably OK, because they fall under the federal government’s responsibility to protect our country’s citizens.  These departments (and the year in which it was established) are as follows – Interior (1849), EPA (1970) and Homeland Security (2002).  However, the scope and operations of these three bureaucracies should be drastically curtailed and transformed.  These departments should become “think tanks” (policy advocates) but should not have any employees who actually administer any specific programs.  The execution of these departments’ policies and programs should be performed at the state and local level, and not run by the federal government.

And then there is the list of departments that are a violation of the Tenth Amendment.  It should be noted that it would be OK to maintain a “think tank” department that could serve as a resource to State governments.  However, the administration of any specific policies and programs should be at the state and local level.  The “non-constitutional” departments are as follows – Agriculture (1862), Labor (1913), Health and Human Services (1953), Housing and Urban Development (1965), Transportation (1966), Energy (1977) and Education (1979).  We believe that each of these departments should be required to justify its existence each year in connection with the preparation of the federal government’s annual budget.  And the President needs the power of the Line Item Veto, to eliminate any unnecessary spending.

By now, it should be readily apparent how the federal government has managed to keep growing over the years.  This growth has been caused by the progressive movement, and it has been facilitated by Congress, which has authorized this expansion of the federal government.  Article 1 states that …all legislative powers are vested in a Congress…  The worst aspect of these agencies is that each agency issues its own rules and regulations, which are, in effect, laws.  Congress has not only violated the Tenth Amendment, but it has also abdicated its legislative responsibilities under the Constitution. 

A similar problem that needs to be addressed is the President’s use of Executive Orders.  The President is not the Legislature.  However, due to the cumbersome nature of the legislative process, we generally accept the need for Executive Orders.  However, in those situations where the President has exceeded his authority, such as President Obama’s DACA Executive Order, Congress should have the ability to override and nullify any such Executive Order with a simple majority vote in the House and Senate.

Another issue that needs attention relates to the commitment of US troops in armed conflicts overseas.  Article 1 gives to Congress the sole responsibility to declare war.  A declaration of war cannot be issued by the President.  However, the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and has the responsibility to protect the country.  This inherent conflict between the Legislative branch and the Executive branch was somewhat resolved by the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was passed by Congress in connection with the undeclared war in Viet Nam.  This Act was intended to check the President’s power to commit US troops in armed conflict without the consent of Congress.  It provides that the President can send troops into action only by a declaration of war by Congress, or by “statutory authorization”, or in the case of a “national emergency.”  The Act requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing our armed forces to a war zone, and it forbids the troops from remaining more than 60 days without congressional authorization.   It appears that our current ongoing multi-year deployment of troops overseas has been covered in the past by the “statutory authorization” of Congress to provide funds for armed conflicts in those countries where there has not been a formal declaration of war.  We recommend that for transparency purposes, Congress needs to specifically vote each year on each armed conflict that is “in process” to either issue a declaration of war or confirm the continued statutory authorization for that war.

US Debt Clock – – May 1st – $75,432 per citizen / June 1st – $77,993

E-Newsletter No. 77                     May 2020     

As we mentioned last month, we are starting a series of newsletters about What’s Wrong with the Federal Government.  This month, we take a look at the Legislative Branch (aka Congress) aka the House of Representatives and Senate.  Unfortunately (and as we anticipated) the list of issues is extensive, and we also want to provide our Editorial Board’s recommendations on what We-the-People can do about it.  Therefore, we have added the following new Conversation Piece to our website (on our “Join the Conversation” page) –

http://www.f2ppr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Whats-Wrong-with-the-Legislative-Branch.pdf

In our opinion, many of the laws that have been passed by Congress have created many of the problems we see with the federal government.  And in a few instances, the legislative branch has failed to do what it needs to do.

Congress has passed many laws over the years that have enabled the federal government to grow well beyond its enumerated powers.  Our elected representatives, who pledge to uphold the Constitution, have been the worst violators of the Tenth Amendment, which states that  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.” 

As we discuss in our analysis of the legislative branch, Article 1 specifically states that “The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts [etc.]…..”

Our federal government has allowed its “on-book” debt to rise to $24.9 trillion as of May 1st.  In addition, the “off book” liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and other “entitlements” are multiples of this amount.  The cumulative historical dysfunction of Congress represents an abject failure of our country’s “leaders”.

US Debt Clock – – April 1st – $71,888 per citizen / May 1st – $75,432