My Response to the President's
State of the Union address.
I have given thought to how to respond
the President's State of the Union address last night. There was so
much wrong with that I just can't comment. I can only say that this is
the speech The President should have given last night.
"Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden,
members of Congress, justices of the Supreme Court, distinguished
guests, and fellow Americans, good evening:
Our Constitution declares that I shall
from time to time give the Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend for their consideration such
measures I shall judge necessary and expedient. It is this event that
brings us together tonight.
The State of
Union
is grim and we, the Congress and I, are all to blame for
that. So starting now, things are going to change.
First, stop with the applause. Our
nation is suffering and doesn't want hear your applause. Besides
that you have done nothing worthy of applause.
Secondly, sit down, listen and open
your minds, as you are about to hear concepts never before made from
this podium.
Third, let's get down to business.
Our nation was founded with the
adoption of our Constitution. If you take the time to read it, you will
find that it is a wonderful powerful document. Oh,
that's right, you and I took an oath to uphold and defend the
Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. So, I must assume that
you have read it. Unfortunately, until today, we were the enemy.
Our Constitution delineated the rights
of the people, powers of the Federal government and reserved all else
to the individual states. Somewhere along the way, we all forgot about
this. Each of you claims to carry a copy of the Constitution in your
pocket. But have you read it? What about the Federalist papers, did you
read those.
Too little emphasis and rhetoric is
placed on politics. No emphasis is placed on the law of the land. That
changes today.
Ron, I said no applause, I mean it.
I campaigned for change and was elected
to lead this nation. I take that lead tonight.
Beginning right now, the job of this
Congress is to fulfill the duties outlined in Article I of the
Constitution. My job is to fulfill the duties outlined for me in
Article II of the Constitution. The job of the justices of the Supreme
Court is to fulfill the duties outlined in Article III of the
Constitution.
Our Constitution created a system of
checks and balances to any one branch of our government from becoming
too powerful. We have not been diligent in using
these checks and as a result our
government is corrupt.
The Job of the Congress is:
To lay and collect Taxes, Duties,
Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the Defence and
general Welfare of our nation.
To borrow money on the credit of the
United
States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign
Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of
Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the
United
States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value
thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the
United
States;
To establish Post Offices and Post
Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and
useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the
exclusive Right to their respective Writings
and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the
supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and
Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of
Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque
and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and
Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the
Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union, suppress
Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and
disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be
employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States
respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of
training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by
Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in
all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles
square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of
Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the
United
States, and to exercise like Authority
over all Places purchased by the Consent
of the Legislature of the State in
which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines,
Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
To make all Laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers,
and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of
the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
The Senate shall provide advice and
consent on appointments and have sole power to try impreachments.
These are a limited set of duties; my
job will be to keep you within these boundaries. The Supreme Court will
be the final check in the event we both fail.
So what does this mean? No more
business as usual, The people have demanded a new sheriff and he just
rode into town.
Let's take look at what you have been
working on:
Health Care Reform - done - not going
anything. Not in your purview.
Energy / Climate Control - done - not
going anything. Not in your purview.
Stimulus - done - not in your purview.
I am issuing an Executive Order demanding any unused funds be returned
to the Treasury.
Bank & Business Bailouts - done -
not in your purview. The Treasury will be instructed to recover these
funds immediately.
Jobs - don't even go there - not in
your purview.
So what's next? Beginning
tomorrow the executive branch will begin a top down review of all
government programs to determine the each programs constitutional
mandate. The Tenth Amendment to Constitution states "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." If a program is not mandated it will
be shut down, defunded on a reasonable schedule and returned to the
responsibility of the states.
Within this review, consideration will
be given to the phrases "general welfare" and
"regulate commerce among states" in Article I, Section 8 of the
Constitution.
The phrase, “general Welfare” does not
authorize the Congress to enact any laws it claims are in the “general
Welfare” of the
United
States. The phrase
sets forth the requirement that all laws passed by Congress in
Pursuance of the enumerated powers of the Constitution shall also be in
the general Welfare of the
United
States. This was
affirmed by James Madison when he wrote: “With respect to the words
“general welfare,” I have always regarded them as qualified by the
detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and
unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a
character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its
creators.”
The phrase "regulate commerce among
states" only permits the Congress to regulate trade among the states
and does not permit Congress to regulate matters that merely affect
commerce among the States.
Every department within the executive
branch will complete this review within 15 days. All non-mandated
programs will transitioned to the states within 6 months.
Yes, this means that thousands of
government employees will lose their jobs. It is only fair, our current
situation caused everyone to be threatened with job loss. Government
jobs should be no different.
Yes, this means that some departments,
education, energy and others will immediately go away. Our people
demand it.
Even expenditures of foreign aid will
be review. When our people are in need of relief, how can be giving
relief to the world.
After shedding itself of all of these
usurped responsibilities, our government will be leaner and agile. But
our job will not yet be done. The days of the $800 dollar hammers must
end. The executive branch will next undergo a top down review of every
remaining budget item to determine the necessity and the cost
effectiveness of the item. There will be no more waste. Each department
will be asked to determine ways to cut spending.
The Congress should help in this
process by providing fund only for constitutional purposes. I will do
my part by vetoing any spending bill that contains provisions are not
constitutionally mandated. While the Congress does have the power to
override my veto, I have and will use the power to sue over the
constitutionality of any vetoed provision.
The days of 1,000 or 2,000 pages bills
are over. The people have spoken. My admonition to you is "keep it
simple" and read it before you vote on it. One "shall" or "must", out
of place, will cause a bill to be vetoed. I promise to the people, that
I will read and understand every bill before I sign it into law. If it
takes me 40 days to read and understand a bill it will sit on my desk
for 40 days.
Today, our national debt stops growing.
As reduce spending, we must begin to pay off our debt. The best way to
accomplish this will be to revamp are tax system. So today, I ask the
Congress to appoint a commission to determine a fair and uniform method
of taxation and to report to me the results of this commission before
the end of the year. The proposed Fair Tax legislation HR 25 and S 296
would be a good starting point. This method of taxation must be
constitutional, as the people are only legally obligated to pay taxes
for unconstitutional purposes.
Once a revised system of taxation is
place, the Congress will be asked to set a tax rate that will pay for
all expenditures in the budget year that they occur and to pay 5% of
the debt. No more deficits. The people can't live on IOU's. As a
government we can't either.
These changes will bring about economic
recovery, but we can't stop there. The Federal Reserve Bank is a beast
out of control, working in secret. It controls our economy. I ask the
Congress to establish a commission that will "Audit of the Fed",
determine if our "fiat" currency is constitutional and in our nations
interest. If this audit shows corruption, influence pedaling and
illegally activity, then the Federal Reserve System should be
disbanded.
We have a great deal of work ahead of
us. Let's get to work. The American people are watching. I am watching
and will be reporting the results of our work directly to the people.
Good luck, God Bless, we are the hope of our nation. God Bless the
united
States of America."
He didn't say this and today we pay.
November is coming and we must stand up and say "No". No to both
Democrats and Republicans. The action taken in this speech must become
the reality.