By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Camp Constitution Wishes all a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving .
Open Letter to State Legislators Everywhere: The Other Side of the Article V Convention Issue
By Publius Huldah
If there is an Article V convention, we will lose the Constitution we have, and another Constitution will be imposed.
You are not getting both sides of this issue. Throughout the Country, those of us who are warning of the dangers of an Article V convention are marginalized, ridiculed, smeared, shut out of meetings, and barred from speaking in public forums. THIS short essay from the Principled Policy Blog describes what we face every day.
THIS article is an account by Donny Harwood, a Citizen of Tennessee, describing how he was shut out of the public meeting which the Convention of States people held on October 19, 2015 at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. According to The Leaf-Chronicle, a number of Tennessee Legislators were at the meeting. A prominent Tennessee radio talk show host was also present.
And everyone at the meeting was prevented from hearing the other side of this issue.
The reason convention proponents forbid dissenting voices is that we prove, by means of Facts and original source documents, that the claims and promises of the convention proponents are false. HERE are some of the original source documents Legislators would hear about if they were presented with the other side of this issue.
We are in the final stage of a takeover. Leftists of every variety want a new Constitution to legalize our transformation from the constitutional Republic created by our existing Constitution to a dictatorship.
To get a new Constitution, they need a convention. So they are telling conservatives that our Constitution is causing our problems and we need to amend the Constitution. And they say we can only make the amendments they say we need at a convention.
Article V of our Constitution provides two methods of amending our Constitution. Congress:
The first method was used for our existing 27 amendments: Congress proposed them and sent them to the States for ratification or rejection.
Under the second method, Congress calls a convention. We have never had a convention under Article V. Such conventions are extremely dangerous. THIS is one of many articles which illustrate the danger, sets forth warnings from two of our Framers and two former US Supreme Court Justices, and explains why Delegates to a convention can NOT be controlled by State laws.
National conventions are dangerous because the Delegates have the plenipotentiary power to impose a new Constitution with a new mode of ratification. The video by Chuck Michaelis at the bottom of THIS page explains these plenipotentiary powers. Such Delegates are the Sovereign Representatives of The People and have the power to impose a new Constitution. This has already happened in our history:
So! Not only do Delegates to a national convention have this plenipotentiary power to impose a new Constitution; the precedent to do so has already been established.
The Left has been pushing for a convention for 50 years – ever since the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations produced the Constitution for the Newstates of America. They need a convention to get it imposed.
Several other Constitutions are already prepared and waiting for a convention.
If there is a convention, the only issues will be (1) whose Constitution will be imposed by the Delegates; and (2) what new mode of ratification will be set forth in the new Constitution.
In the past, conservatives defeated the periodic pushes for a convention. So the Left changed tactics: Now, they are marketing it to appeal to conservatives: they are telling conservatives that a convention is the only way to rein in the federal government. These leftists, some wearing conservatives’ clothing, are using the classic techniques of the Left: They are not telling the truth; they are smearing their opponents; and they have divided conservatives. Conservatives who fell for the marketing have been induced to attack and exclude conservatives who are warning of the dangers of a convention. And they won’t let us address their groups.
Our existing Constitution really was a 5,000 year miracle. We delegated only a handful of enumerated powers to the federal government – you can see what we delegated HERE. Our Constitution doesn’t need “fixing” – we need to restore the Constitution we already have. We begin the Restoration by reading and learning our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. And enforcing it! See, in this regard, the Tenth Amendment Center’s 2015 State of the Nullification Movement Report.
For the Love of God and Country, heed this warning.
Very truly yours,
Publius Huldah
History of Veterans Day
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.
However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918,… is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples. (The above is from the Veterans Administration.)
Camp Constitution salutes our nation’s veterans and activy duty military
Source: posts on Facebook, October 21, 2015
via National Archives Foundation
Today in 1797, the USS Constitution was launched in Boston Harbor. The ship was one of six original frigates commissioned by the Naval Act of 1794, and was named by President George Washington in dedication to our nation’s founding document.
The ship was initially constructed to ward off Barbary pirates who were terrorizing American merchant ships in the Mediterranean, but is most remembered for its part in naval victories over the British in the War of 1812. During a sea battle with the British ship HMS Guerriere, in which the USS Constitution triumphed, she earned her nickname “Old Ironsides.” A sailor aboard the Guerriere saw 18-pound British cannonballs bouncing right off the hull of the Constitution and exclaimed “Huzza, her sides are made of iron!” which propagated the false belief that she was constructed from iron – she was in fact made from oak.
The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned in the U.S. Navy, and went through significant renovations in the 1830s, 1920s, and again in the 1990s. The ship currently resides at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, where it attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Image: USS Constitution, 8/18/1914
https://www.facebook.com/archives.foundation/photos/a.157959679900.115034.90953349900/10153741592524901
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6037256
via Naval History & Heritage Command shared USS Constitution’s photo
HUZZAH!!! On this day in 1797, USS Constitution was launched from Edmund Hartt Shipyard in Boston! Join the crew in celebrating USS Constitution’s 218th birthday!!! There will be a firing of Old Ironsides’ saluting battery at her launch time of 12:30 p.m., followed by the ship opening to visitors from 2:30-5 p.m.
Image: provided by USS Constitution facebook page.
Recently my English class and I finished reading the story of Beowulf, which was one of the first written to personify good and evil, and because of this the teacher asked the class to have a discussion about good and evil and how to tell the two apart. The class was then broken up into groups where we proceeded to discuss the topics. Soon I engaged in an interesting conversation with another student who struggles with his faith in God. I asked him how he decided what is good and what is evil, and his response was if something hurts people then it is evil; if something does not hurt people then it is good. When I asked him where he got his standard from, he could not give me and answer. This discussion eventually left my discussion group and the entire class started debating the issue and, whenever I asked someone where their standard for good and evil came from, no one could give a straight answer.
Eventually someone asked me where my standard for good and evil came from and I responded that it came from God, and that I believed that what is right and wrong is defined in the Bible and that morality was absolute. The class responded by saying that morality was relative, that I cannot tell anyone else what was right and what was wrong. They told me that morality changed based on the situation. I then asked, if morality is relative then how can you tell a murderer that what he has done is wrong? When they could not give a straight answer I
then said that if morality is relative then everything is permissible. That pretty much ended the discussion.
The reason I am sharing this story with you is so maybe I can help someone realize the value of standing up for their faith. No one in that class converted to Christianity right there and then, but the seeds were sown, and I hope I got them thinking about God and moral absolutes, which is what I was trying to do in the first place, get them to think.
I hope you enjoyed the story and I look forward to witting some more for you. God bless you.
-Dominic Girard has attended Camp Constitution’s annual summer camp and is a student at Manchester Public High School in Manchester, NH
STEALING THE MINDS OF A NATION
IS THE GREATEST CRIME
In 1924, H.L. Mencken’s razor sharp words took public education to task exposing its true goal: “to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.” Today’s reality exposes these truths. We have journeyed to close to the final goal of the educators: Change Agents in the Obama Administration nationalizing our schools from K-12 with Common Core. This path traveling from freedom to slavery is the inevitable consequence that all other nations have followed when they allowed the state to take control of what children are taught. This long term process has now been in the works for well over a 100 years. Below as I uncover signposts from the past leading to this goal, you will see how precisely this long term agenda fits Mencken’s words like a glove.
In no way does this thesis below condemn all the great teachers who labor under a monopoly of what is taught in their classrooms. Nor, do I attack our students who have for the past hundred years , created a boom in the advancement in technology. But, here, I merely suggest, our students have been denied the moral wisdom that has created the “goose that laid the golden egg”: the freedom that only comes from the Holy Bible. Freedom to be creative.
As a father of four and grandfather of ten, I have for nearly 50 years had a passion for exposing this evil process that popular opinion ignores. For powerful persuasion of the fickle nightly news and main line newsprint have continued to applaud while these truths have been designated as extreme. A constant barrage of telling the people what they want to hear, “good news” ; makes an effective cover, for it shields the people from what they need to know. We must learn from these lessons of history that have deceived generations of our people in order to prevent the complete nationalization of our schools.
In fighting through all the maze of controlled persuasion, remember it is you who must decide what is the good or the evil side. Beware, the warning of the words of William Butler Yeats in his poem, The Second Coming: “The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Siren songs of tyranny have always been sold with quiet gentle words throughout the generations with a “passionate intensity.” Parents must avoid leaving the teaching of their children in the so-called expert hands of the state.
Youth who have a limited understanding because of poor reading have been easy to deceive with perverted history. Because the “core” of learning depends on reading skills: these foundational methods of informing the minds of our youth in our public schools have been the primary target of the “change agents’ in our schools. The crippling impact of impaired reading on our culture has been evident in the kind of leadership we have chosen. I’m sure that most parents are concerned as I am about what is taught in our schools. For isn’t it obvious that what is taught today, if it does not produce a high degree of literacy, the next generation will suffer the consequences?
With children in a captive audience in the classroom: does it not make sense for parents to ask, why these insightful words of the great Senator of Rome, Marcus Tullius Cicero have not been part of their history curriculum: “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” Just think how rewritten historical lies controls human action. George Orwell reinforces this deficiency with a similar warning: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
Should we not as parents ask why evil men lusting for power, have learned from history, while good honorable leaders: especially, in our American Republic, who have been entrusted to safeguard our liberty, seem never to learn from history. in our culture: “evil painted good goes on silently”, while the people slumber in the paradise of liberty, oblivious to the price paid for it by our “forefathers.” Without reading skills our people cannot learn from the past. Does it not make sense that if a method of teaching reading skills is a failure, then the tried and true method of phonics should be restored in our schools?
The thread of history exposing this evil trend to deny our people the lessons of history has deep roots, traveling all the way back in time to May 1st, 1776. Preceding our Declaration of Independence, the Order of the Illuminati, the main branch of this conspiracy of evil was founded with a purpose to destroy all human institutions: the family, biblical Christianity, schools of learning and all governments. Essentially, turning the world upside down to establish their control. The words of the Degree of Regent within the Illuminati stated: “You must gain over the Order the common people. The great plan for succeeding in this is to influence the schools… The Prefect will therefore spare no pains to gain possession of the Schools which lie within his district, and also of their teachers…” Do you see how this intent is the seed of Common Core and how its purpose fits what Mencken’s words so accurately described in 1924?
One of the most powerful agency of this alien philosophy that would limit the student to dependence on the state and divide children from their parents was the Carbonari spawned Young America movement. A second generation agency furthering the Illuminati cause in America to turn all that is decent in the world upside down was led by John O’Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review. In 1837 this was a major newspaper impacting the Democratic party. His words were a Manifesto of deception: “ All history has to be rewritten; political science and the whole scope of all moral truth have to be considered and illustrated in the light of the democratic principle. All old subject of thought and all new questions arising , connected more or less directly with human existence, have to be taken up again and reexamined….” American’s who care about the future our children will inherit, must ask: Why weren’t we told about this silent generational killer of our beloved nation?
While Threads of darkness were spreading this evil agenda throughout Europe. From Adam Weishaupt to Voltaire, the goal was set to capture controls of education in every country. On this side of the Atlantic, God’s agenda became the beacon of hope for western civilization. “Dr. Lawrence A. Cremin in his study of American education from 1607 to 1789, credits the high quality of American education to the Bible,’ the single most important cultural influence in the lives of Anglo-Americans.” The Providence Foundation reveals the results of education that creates liberty: “At the time of the Declaration of Independence the quality of education had enabled the colonies to achieve a degree of literacy from 70% to virtually 100%.” Children sitting on mothers knee created the greatest generation ever. True education God’s way is not complicated.
But the lure of Free public education for all children in public schools appealed to a small audience of parents seeking an easy way that required less parental involvement. Although contrary to the trend away from the “free education, Common Schools” (the name for public schools then): in 1789, Massachusetts enacted the first state school law. No one then or enough people now seemed to realize the high cost government schools would demand from the taxpayers pocket. Nor the killing effect it would have on a “generational mindset” of our people to perpetuate the “biblical liberty’ that our forefathers bought with their lives, fortunes and sacred honors. Rewritten history hides the glory of this greatest generation that won the war for American Independence.
Perverted history, hides this agenda that Karl Marx listed as the number ten plank of the Communist Manifesto in 1848. its purpose lies hidden: to destroy parental rights that would be taken away by the Nanni-state. Since then “government schools called public schools” have become as American as apple pie. Take heed of Lincoln’s insightful wisdom: The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
The control of our public schools has been the first step, acting as a catalyst to perpetuate other revolutionary planks that Marx’s advocated in his Manifesto. Because what our youth have been taught continues to allow the promotion of our nations central planned super-state, generation after generation. Government school graduates do not question the Marxist programs that continue to dominate our national policies And all the masters of the Orwellian Ministry of Truth whose minds are also programmed by the same educational curriculum say: hurrah, hurrah! Education of our youth has traveled from the trusted knee of mom to the present world that threatens the future of our nations survival. Failure in education has deep roots.
Here I would like to define the term , “Educational Establishment” (EE): as the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United States Department of Education with its satellite 50 state agencies, the National Educational Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT) , Teachers Colleges and textbook publishing companies. These are the “Common Core” revolutionaries minds behind what Teachers teach. Students learn what they are told. But passing grades does not measure good education.
Isn’t it fair to assume that these philosophies of the EE have had a major impact on our nations policies that have caused America’s decline from liberty and prosperity? In what other way could our citizens have been so desensitized to all the government policies that have accumulated an 18 trillion dollar plus, national debt? Toleration of such “economic chaos” has no other explanation to the sober minded. Who would guess that the seed our destruction was incubated in the minds of our educators growing from the school room where either the Christian philosophy of liberty or the utopian philosophy of tyranny can be taught? Isn’t it possible that Samuel Blumenfeld’s words describe how we have become victims of this national crime; “It is easier to believe a credible lie than an incredible truth?”
What are the results of the EE monopoly of education? In April 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued its historic report, stating: “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre education performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves.” After thirty two years and tens of billions of dollars later, who can argue that our money has bought an improvement in education?
it is because our Founders believed in biblical truth, our nation has risen into unparalleled prosperity. Does it not make sense to go back to these basics to solve our nose-diving SAT scores? Instead of pouring more money into programs such as Common Core. According to the book, America’s Providential History there were in 1989, 30 – 40 million American adults who were functional illiterates. Isn’t it obvious that something is radically wrong with our schools when these poor souls are unable to read job applications, a warning sign at work or prescriptions on medicine bottles?
Why have our schools failed to educate? The answer lies within each of us as we look in the mirror. We have allowed the Supreme Court rulings for well over a half-a-century to be our Supreme Board of Theology. Biblical Christianity has been rendered obsolete in their multiple rulings. Why should we be surprised if our nation uses God as a “spare tire” as was demonstrated on 9-11. Afterwards, we put Him back in the trunk. Without the moral anchor of the Ten Commandments, our nation has been in a “moral vacuum” : not standing for something, we have fallen for anything to fill that vacuum. Colossians 2:8 tells us that a worldly philosophy brings captivity: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men , according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” Most folks own a Bible, but not many read it.
Parents: do you really believe that such an elementary failure of so many children to learn to read and write can be blamed on their intelligence? Or is it that we have bought a monopolized education package from the EE with our tax dollars that have purposely failed to teach our children for generations the correct way to read or write? For information on the proper teaching of phonics system, I urge all to contact the Samuel L. Blumenfeld Literacy Foundation at slblf.com. For a sound basis and understanding of this “crisis in education” , I suggest reading the late Mr. Blumenfeld’s books: “IS PUBLIC EDUCATION NECESSARY?; NEA: TROJAN HORSE IN AMERICAN EDUCATION, and his last book co-authored by Alex Newman: CRIMES OF THE EDUCATORS.
As citizens who pay dearly in tax dollars we must ask why for generations, the EE has deleted the only true Common Core of education, the Ten Commandments? This has created a moral vacuum in the minds of our youth, who are now filled with varying degrees of what the holy Bible warns against in the last chapter of Judges: “Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” This is the goal of the master planners, the self appointed gods of the EE. For as Ben Franklin said: the more corrupt a people become the more they have need of a master.” Crime is profitable for would be dictators who lust for power.
Since the mid-twentieth century we have been victimized by what William Penn warned against: “Men who refuse to be ruled by God will be ruled by men.” I have studied decades of government corruption and no matter which party is in control, we continue with essentially the same philosophy: if government policies fail, we just throw more money at it. If the definition of insanity is: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then looking in the true mirror of our history, we as a people have allowed insanity to rule. If one doubts my contentions here, I suggest you read the Communist Manifesto, thoroughly, and then compare the agenda that Marx recommended to seize control in a nation to how our government policies follow the same path.
It is for shame that the implementation of the above evil agenda quietly strangles our nation, while God’s Manifesto for liberty, the Holy Bible is forgotten. Biblical liberty is so vividly portrayed in 2 Corinthians 3:17 where it says…”Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” Without this divine restoration, the terminal infection within our culture seeded many generations ago in our schools will cause the “death of our nation.”
Today marks the 228th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. How did most Americans observe this important day in our history? Most didn’t. And that is precisely why Camp Constitution’s mission is so vital. Our nation’s enemies have done an incredible job ensuring that most Americans know little to nothing about this remarkable document.
Since our camp’s founding, we have reached out to hundreds of thousands of people from our Youtube and Vimeo channels, outreach events at parades, door to door distribution, Tea Party rallies, home school shows, and on Camp Constitution Radio.
What have you done to promote the U.S. Constitution? Here are a few recommendations:
1, Start a Camp Constitution Community Club.
2, Host a video series on the Constitution.
3, Purchase and distribute copies of the U.S. Constitution.
4, Make the U.S. Constitution an issue when you communicate with elected and appointed officials.
5, Educate yourself on the U.S. Constitution.
6, Help promote our web site
7, Help promote our week-long family camp by becoming a sponsor.
8, Help start a summer camp in your part of the country.
Here is our 10 question quiz on the U.S. Constitution:
Constitution Quiz:
1, Which amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms?______
2, What is the age requirement for the U.S. Senate?________________
3, Which amendment reads “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs?”__________________________________
4, Lawmaking abilities are vested in which branch of government?____
5, How many amendments does the Constitution have?___________?
6, Which branch of government has the power to regulate education?
____________________________________________________________
7, Where in the Constitution is foreign aid mentioned?_______________
8, How many senators are needed to ratify a treaty?_______________
9, Which branch of Congress initiates the impeachment process?______
Answers:
1, 2nd Amendment.
2, Thirty years. Article One Section 3. Paragraph 3
3, There is no such amendment. This quote is from the “Communist Manifesto.”
4, Congress- Article One, Section One.
5, Twenty-seven
6, None. The U.S. Constitution does not grant any power regarding education in the Constitution.
7, It isn’t mentioned. The Constitution never gave the federal government any power to give taxpayer money to foreign countries. A treaty may include financial arrangements but this wouldn’t be foreign aid.
8, 2/3 of those present (Article II, Section, II, Paragraph II
9, The House of Representatives (Article I, Section II, Paragraph 5
10, Congress (Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 11
Thank you for taking the quiz. We hope that this will challenge you to both learn more, and help others learn about this incredible document. We also hope that you will take an important role in the freedom movement. If you would like more information about Camp Constitution, please visit our web site www.campconstitution.net
Happy Constitution Day. May you help us celebrate many more. We will leave you with a video of Kid Constitution whose knowledge of the U.S. Constitution shames most adults.
The late Sam Blumenfeld was a pioneer in the modern homeschool movement, and an instructor at Camp Constitution. While he passed away June 1, of this year, his legacy lives on with his numerous books, newsletters, and hundreds of speeches, and presentations he did over the years on radio shows, homeschool conventions and public presentations. Thanks to the efforts of Camp Constitution’s web master Eric Conover, and Mark Affleck much of Sam’s work, has been archived on the camp’s web site including his Alpha-Phonics book with instructions in audio for all 100 plus lessons. That’s right. Anyone can learn to read or teach others how to read using Camp Constitution’s web site.
In addition to the Alpha-Phonics, we have uploaded some rare writings available in digital for the first time newsletters from “American Friends of Algeria,” “American Friends of Katanga,” and “The Society of Jewish Americanists.”
The Plot to Impose a National Sales Tax or Value Added Tax
By Publius Huldah
A devilish plot is afoot to impose new national taxes on the American People. It is a masterful piece of trickery because the authorization for the new national taxes is buried within Compact for America’s version of a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.
Furthermore, the balanced budget amendment does nothing to control federal spending; and transforms our Constitution from one of limited and defined powers to one of general and unlimited powers. 1
Yet this monstrosity is pending in Michigan as SB 306 2 and in North Carolina as HB 366. 3 Legislators in four States, Alaska, Georgia, Mississippi and North Dakota, have already passed it.
Let’s look at Sections 1-6 of Compact for America’s balanced budget amendment:
It does Nothing to Control Federal Spending
Section 1 allows Congress to spend as much as they take from us in taxes and add to the national debt. That’s a good idea?
Sections 2 and 3 permit Congress to raise the debt whenever 26 States agree. States are addicted to federal funds. Will 25 States agree not to take more federal funds?
Section 4 is a joke: Who believes Congress will impeach a President for refusing to “impound” an appropriation made by Congress? Congress won’t even impeach a President for Treason.
How Authorization for the New Taxes is Hidden
Section 5 says:
“No bill that provides for a new or increased general revenue tax shall become law unless approved by a two-thirds roll call vote of the whole number of each House of Congress….” [italics mine]
What is a “general revenue tax”? Section 6 defines it:
“…’general revenue tax’ means any income tax, sales tax, or value-added tax levied by the government of the United States…” [italics mine]
Now go back to Section 5 and substitute the definition of “general revenue tax” for that term:
“No bill that provides for a new or increased income tax, sales tax, or value-added tax levied by the government of the United States shall become law unless approved by a two-thirds roll call vote of the whole number of each House of Congress….”
There it is: All that’s needed is approval of two-thirds of the members of each House and a new national sales tax and/or value added tax is imposed on us. And they can increase it, along with increasing the income tax, whenever they get two-thirds of the members to vote for it.
Section 5 also permits Congress to make laws to impose a new “end user sales tax” 4 which would replace the income tax – this “end user sales tax” is passed by a simple majority of both houses.
So! Compact for America’s balanced budget amendment provides two options to Congress:
Which option will Congress choose?
Our Constitution Doesn’t Now Authorize a National Sales Tax or Value-added Tax
Article I, §8, clause 1 says:
“The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises…”
Principles of Compact for America say this clause already authorizes a national sales tax or value added tax. Board Vice-President Chip DeMoss said on Feb. 12, 2014:
“a national sales tax would be an “impost” (defined as a tax or similar compulsory payment) that is authorized under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1…” [see comment 19].
We may not properly use DeMoss’ redefinition of “impost”!
We must use the definition of “impost” our Framers used: The Federalist Papers say an “impost” is a tax or duty on imports. Type imposts in the search box [at the link] and the Papers discussing imposts will come up. See for yourself that an “impost” is a tax or duty on imports.
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “impost” as:
“…Any tax or tribute imposed by authority; particularly, a duty or tax laid by government on goods imported, and paid or secured by the importer at the time of importation. Imposts are also called customs.”
Do you see?
National sales taxes and value-added taxes are also not “excise” taxes. Excise taxes are a tax on a unit of goods – such as the infamous whiskey excise tax of 1791 which led to the Whiskey Rebellion. 5 It imposed a flat tax per gallon. The tax was payable for domestic whiskey at the distillery (§17 of the Act) and the casks were numbered and marked to show the tax had been paid (§19 of the Act).
“Taxes” at Art. I, §8, clause 1 refers to the apportioned direct tax provided for at Art. I, §2, clause 3 of our Constitution.
Our Framers were specific about the kinds of taxes Congress is permitted to impose. Congress does not have the power to impose any kind of tax it wants. Our Framers limited Congress’ taxing power to:
A sales tax is none of the above. A sales tax is a percentage of the retail price of goods. A value-added tax is a “turbo-charged national sales tax on goods and services that is applied at each stage of production, not merely on retail transactions” and raises a “gusher of revenue for spendthrift governments worldwide”.
We have never had a national sales tax or value added tax in this Country. Why? Because they are not authorized by the Constitution.
We were manipulated into supporting the 16th Amendment. We were told the income tax would “soak the rich” – and the envious drooled at the prospect.
And so again today, statists are seeking to trick us into supporting a national sales tax or a value added tax: first, by concealing it within the verbiage of the bill; 6 and then, once the trickery was exposed, by claiming the Constitution already authorizes these new types of taxes.
There is a Better Way: Downsize the Federal Government!
Our Constitution limits federal spending to the enumerated powers. The list of objects on which Congress may lawfully spend money is a short list. See the list HERE.
Most of what the federal government does today is unconstitutional as outside the scope of the powers delegated by the Constitution. Let’s cut federal spending by downsizing the federal government to its enumerated powers and constitutional limits.
Endnotes:
1 Congress’ spending is limited by the enumerated powers: If an object is on the list of enumerated powers (e.g., the patent & copyright office authorized by Art. I, §8, cl. 8), Congress may lawfully spend money on it. That’s how our Constitution already controls federal spending.
All versions of a balanced budget amendment change the constitutional standard for spending FROM whether an object is on the list of enumerated powers TO a limit on total spending where Congress may spend money on whatever they or the President put in the budget. This is what transforms our Constitution FROM one of enumerated powers only TO one of general and unlimited powers. And that is the true purpose of a balanced budget amendment. It has nothing to do with limiting federal spending – the pretended spending limits are fictitious since they may be waived whenever the feds [and 26 of the States] want to waive them.
2 Leon Drolet’s article of July 10, 2015, and Sam Easter’s article of July 8, 2015, about SB 306 pending in Michigan don’t mention the new national taxes.
3 Matthew Burns’ article about the hearing on HB 366 before N. Carolina’s House Judiciary Committee (which passed HB 366) doesn’t mention the new national taxes. Burns quotes the Bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chris Millis, as saying the problem is “Washington is unwilling or unable to limit itself.” So the solution is to massively increase Congress’ taxing powers?
4 “End user sales tax” is not defined in the balanced budget amendment.
5 Apparently, the practice of tarring & feathering “revenuers” began with the Whiskey Excise Tax.
6 The trickery was exposed over a year ago HERE. Since then, they have claimed the Constitution already authorizes the new taxes. Are we too gullible to be free? PH
Rita Dunaway, staff counsel for the Convention of States Project (COS), wrote an article,
Five Myths about Article Five, which turns the Constitution on its ear. Ironically, her article challenges five premises that are true, while invoking at least 9 myths of her own.
In fact, the very name “convention of states,” is being used by Article V convention advocates to deceive state legislators into thinking an Article V convention can be controlled by state legislatures; it cannot.
Rita’s Myth #1: A “convention of states” is the only “medicine that can cure the disease of federal overreach…”
False: What did our Founders really say we must do when the federal government usurps power? They never said, “When the federal government ignores the Constitution, amend the Constitution.” Instead, in addition to electing faithful representatives, they advised Nullification.
“Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.” – Thomas Jefferson; Kentucky Resolutions, 1798
According to the Tenth Amendment Center, “Nullification is any act, or set of actions, that results in a particular law being rendered null, void or even just unenforceable within a particular area.” Nullification applies only to unconstitutional acts of the federal government – to usurpations of powers not delegated.
States, local governments, your County Sheriff or even The People can follow the advice of James Madison and refuse to comply with unconstitutional federal laws right now, without risking our Constitution through a convention. In fact, there were over 200 bills introduced less than one month into the 2015 state legislative season to do just that.
Rita’s Myth #2: The purpose of Article V is to protect The States and The People from an overreaching federal government.
False: Amendments are meant to correct errors, not to protect The People from an overreaching federal government. Alexander Hamilton at the constitutional convention on September 10, 1787 pointed out that amendments remedy defects in the Constitution. And he tells us in Federalist No. 85 (paragraph 13) that useful amendments would address the “organization of the government, not…the mass of its powers.”
You cannot “fix” federal usurpations of undelegated powers by amending the Constitution to say the federal government cannot do what the Constitution never gave it the power to do in the first place.
Rita’s Myth #3: The reason the drafters added the convention method of proposing amendments to Article V was to give the states a way to bypass Congress.
False: If Article V were meant for states to bypass Congress, it would have bypassed Congress! Article V gives Congress the power to “call” a convention; and Article I, Section 8, last Clause gives Congress the power to make whatever laws are “necessary and proper” to carry out the powers vested by the Constitution, e.g. Article V.
It’s true that George Mason wanted states to be able to make amendments without the assent of Congress and in a manner which did not depend on Congress. However Mason lost on this issue and refused to sign the Constitution.
Rita’s Myth #4: A “convention of states” is different than a “constitutional convention” because of the source of authority of each. The former derives its authority from Article V itself and is limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution we have; whereas at the constitutional convention of 1787, The States gathered pursuant to their residual powers as individual sovereigns.
False: The only convention for proposing amendments is one called by Congress. And Congress has total power to organize and set it up. But once the delegates assemble, they are the sovereign representatives of The People, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence (paragraph 2) and have the right to alter or abolish our form of government and institute a new one.
Advocacy groups are using semantics to change the meaning of the term “constitutional convention.” According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a “constitutional convention” is defined as “a duly constituted assembly of delegates or representatives of The People of a state or nation for the purpose of framing, revising, or amending its constitution.”
COS cannot have it both ways. They cannot proclaim the enormous power of an Article V convention to take back our government; and, at the same time, rein in delegates and deny their sovereignty.
Rita’s Myth #5: We know how an Article V convention would operate.
False: Neither COS nor anyone else can guarantee what will happen at an Article V Convention. There are no precedents. With our Constitution at risk, are we to assume 200-year-old “customs” in conventions between a few states would prevail?
Proof that there are no rules for operating an Article V convention is that various organizations of state legislators, including the Assembly of State Legislatures (ASL) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are working furiously to hammer out rules. However, any finished product of such groups will have the “force” of a suggestion only.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report issued April 11, 2014[1] confirms that Congress most likely will claim authority over the power to organize and set up an Article V convention. Because of lack of precedent and so many unknowns, the CRS Report suggests on page 27 that they’ll have to call a convention to see what sort of convention they’ll get: general, limited or runaway!
Rita’s Myth #6: The reason we haven’t had an Article V convention yet is because there have never been 34 applications requesting a convention on the same topic.
False: This is speculation. Since Congress is given the power to “call” a convention, Congress decides how to count the applications. The hundreds of applications sent in thus far may not have met Congress’s criteria in terms of wording, timing, or any number of factors; or perhaps Congress has resisted calling a convention for reasons of its own.
Rita’s Myth #7: A limitation on the topic is necessary in order for state legislatures to provide instructions to the delegates.
False: There is nothing in Article V that calls for instructions to delegates. Since delegates can do whatever they want once the convention is convened, delegate instructions serve only as a gimmick to secure legislators’ votes on applications by giving them a false sense of security in thinking they can control what is totally out of their hands.
Judi Caler lives in Nevada City, California and is Article V Issues Director for Eagle Forum of California. She is passionate about holding our public servants accountable to their oaths to support the Constitution we have.
[1] The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress, Thomas H. Neale, April 11, 2014.