US Constitution Article I § 9

My Constitution Project has been dormant for several months. Here is some new life. Hopefully I'll be able to complete it in 2007.

Section 9 of the US Constitution places explicit restrictions on Congress. You may remember in my previous post, Section 8 told Congress exactly what it can do (although today's Congress is a far cry from what it was intended to be).

Clause 1: The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
Congress cannot prohibit the slave trade until 1808 but may tax $10 per slave. Obviously this clause does not apply to us anymore.

Clause 2: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
Habeas Corpus is a fundamental right. Basically it means that you cannot be held in detention indefinitely without being charged with a crime. It was suspended during the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln. George W. Bush has ignored it several times and used questionable legal means to delay it being applied to certain individuals accused of terrorism. I consider any president, including Lincoln, that suspends this right to be an enemy of true liberty.

Clause 3: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Bills of attainder are laws that take away rights from one person or group of persons without a trial. An ex post facto law declares something illegal and retroactively punishes people who have broken it before it was passed.

Clause 4: No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
Unfortunately the 16th Amendment "clarified" this. I will handle this subject later on.

Clause 5: No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
Interstate commerce cannot be taxed. It still isn't, at least by the federal government. States cannot charge a "sales tax" either for interstate sales, but commonly charge a "use tax" which is a tax paid to use an item in the state. Using basically means owning. These laws are largely unenforced, though my home state of Virginia asks you to fill out on your tax return the value of items you bought online. These use taxes are almost completely unenforceable. In order to know that I bought something, not only would they have to scan my credit card and bank statements for online or phone orders, but they would have to prove that those items were in fact mailed to me and not sent to someone as a gift.

Clause 6: No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No states can be favored more than others. Very hard to enforce this clause unless under severe circumstances.

Clause 7: No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
Congress can only spend money after it passes a law to spend that money, which it does much too often.

Clause 8: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
This statement was almost codified into a law in which someone would be stripped of citizenship if they accepted a title of nobility. Having freed ourselves from Britain, we were tired of the knights, kings, queens, dukes, and all of that nonsense.

Tacos, Jesus, and Christmas Trees

There's absolutely nothing interesting going on this week. Maybe the news outlets are tired after the donkey raped the elephant in the midterm elections? Maybe they've written the word Iraq too many times. Consider this post to be a mishmash of many of my thoughts over the past couple of days.

The big story on CNN and others now is that they think lettuce poisoned some people at Taco Bell. Why is it always the Mexican themed restaurants that have issues? Chi-Chis went out of business due to hepatitis A in one store near Pittsburgh. Who knows what Taco Bell's fate will be. In the great movie Demolition Man it was the last remaining restaurant after the "franchise wars." Time will only tell. One thing I can tell you, I'd still take a bet that Taco Bell's Mexican food is much safer than Mexican food in Mexico.

My favorite interest group to hate, Big Labor, AKA unions, have new ads attacking Walmart, using the slogan "would Jesus shop at Walmart." Some background. Unions hate Walmart because they are known for busting any unions that try to organize their stores. They have gone so far as to close entire stores down when the threat was imminent. If only GM had the balls to do that, Cadillac might actually compete with BMW.

Well, Jesus not only shops at WalMart, I think someone by that name is a greeter at the one near me... but I digress...I think Jesus, being a carpenter, would prefer Home Depot or Lowe's, but what's there not to like about Walmart. Everything they sell there is dirt cheap, and the whole shopping experience is the closest most of us will get to feeling like refugees waiting in a breadline. It's almost an adventure.

SEATAC took down a Christmas tree after being on the receiving end of a lawsuit by a rabbi. He said it wasn't his intention to remove the tree, he just wanted a huge menorah. The tree is back up, the menorah is not. My solution is to have a big tree with some dreidels hanging from it. To incorporate more religions, we can add a manger scene. We can honor Hindus by putting a cow under the tree, and honor Muslims by replacing Baby Jesus with Baby Mohammad in the manger scene.

And you thought those Danish Cartoons were a riot!

In NYC

Maybe if NYC allowed people to carry concealed weapons, these poor fucks would have had a chance against the New York Gestapo...

Milton Friedman, R.I.P.

A great American died today. His name was Milton Friedman. He spent over 70 of his 94 years as an economist. He influenced the Reagan administration and many others. Living through the Great Depression (he was in his late teens and early twenties at the time) he saw that it was government policy that turned a recession into the worst financial crisis in generations.

Throughout this time he was a great champion of liberty, both on social and fiscal issues. He viewed the war on drugs as a good signal of how the government can cause massive social corruption through policy decisions in which it need not be involved. As he once remarked, it is policies that make drugs illegal that protect the drug cartels.


He rightfully fought against unions, remarking:

"The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn't do a thing for the people who are unemployed because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn't do a thing for them."

In the 70's, he saved the economy in Chile. Throughout the late 20th century, his advice brought about massive tax cuts to the United States, as he was "in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible."

He probably did more to move us away from socialism than anyone else. Dr. Milton Friedman will be greatly missed.

Stupid Voters

Looking at early election results, I see that our country is really, really headed down the wrong path. In various states, we've got people voting against legalizing marijuana (where's the fun in that) voting against stem cell research, voting to amend their consitutions to ban something that's already banned (gay marriage. What's coming up next, "kill all gays?"), voting against using slot machines to fund education (idiots in Ohio), and voting in several states to raise the minimum wage (which will lead to huge unemployment and reduced working hours).

The one bright spot at this time is that it seems Michigan is voting to restrict discrimination against white people, known to many as affirmative action.

These are just projections at this point though, and who knows what will happen in the morning.

How I Voted

US House VA District 11: Hurst (D). 

 

I just couldn't vote for Tom Davis.  I wrote him a lot of emails asking him how he stands on certain issues.  I wasn't pleased with most results.  He voted against online gambling, the NRA rates him a D, and he seems like a typical big government conservative, so I figure the Democrat can't be much worse. 

 

US Senate VA: George Allen

 

In the battle between two assholes, I'll vote for the one that will keep taxes low.

 

Gay Marriage Ban: Voted Against

 

These bans are a waste of everyone's time.  Keep this bullshit off my constitution, there's already a VA law against it.  Also there are some very real concerns about this law impacting those who want to give medical power of attorneys to non spouses, or use wills to leave their property to non-relatives.

 

School bonds, money for parks, money for police, etc.

 

Voted against all of these bonds.  My county wanted me to authorize at lest $75M in bonds.  I don't want my taxes going up. 

Auto Quality

When choosing a car, quality is usually fairly high on everyone's list as things to consider.  I have been the primary driver of 3 cars in my life, two of which have been around long enough to judge quality.

 

I found a nifty little tool on Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/maintenance.do

 

It allows you to see any Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that are issued for a car.  These are basically "known issues" that the dealer probably won't fix for free, but have been reported by enough people that the powers that be think that dealers should be given a heads up in case customers come in complaining about this problem.

 

I have looked at various cars, some known for quality and some not, that have been made since 1998.  The average number of TSBs seems to be around 20-30.  Some of these are repeats with updated information.

 

My 1999 Saturn SL1 was not a high quality car, but it had only 23 TSBs from 1998 - today.

 

My 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT was an even lower quality car, and it had 121 TSB's issued from 2000-today.  There were at least 8 major issues (leaking floor, transmission rattle, engine misfires, etc) that affected me.  This is not including other issues that came up, costing me several thousand dollars.  Keep in mind that I sold this car with only 60,000 miles on it!

 

Moral of the story.  Mitsubishi's are shitty cars, probably worse than Fords, Kia's and anything else you can come up with.  Stay away!

 

PS: A review on my new car will be coming up soon.

Where I've Been

I've been here lately, but more busy than usual. I recently got a pseudo-promotion at my job. I say pseudo because my boss left and I was asked to take over, but since he was at the same official title as me, my title remains the same, as does my pay for now. I am now a Team Lead. I currently have no team to lead, but that will most likely change within the next month.

Other than that, I took a trip to Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive is one of the most beautiful 100 miles of roadway in the country. I recommend anyone who hasn't been there to go. The hiking is great too, we hiked three trails. One was to Hawksbill the highest point of the park, another was to a waterfall and yet another was a rock scramble to a great 360 degree view of the park.

Good News, Bad News

Thumbs up: Studies show that smoking weed might help prevent alzheimers disease, so do your grandparents/parents a favor and roll them a joint!

Thumbs down: Many states, including my own have banned or are planning to ban the AWOL, or alcohol without liquid. This device turns alcohol into a vapor so you can inhale it. No bad taste, no hangovers. The liquor industry was scared to death by this gizmo, since it suddenly made their product look like a drug...

But seriously, since alcohol is 100% legal for adults, why shouldn't they be able to consume it however they want? If I want to inject alcohol into my veins, why not? Not that I have done that, or inhale it, but why should we really care what other people are doing with their alcohol? Not just in bars, this law prohibits you from using alcohol like this in your own home.

GOP Scandal

It was just announced today that former Congressman Mark Foley (R, FL) is gay. Evidence has recently showed that he was having cyber sex with teenage boys who served as his pages in recent years. I think this is an interesting development for several reasons. Though it seems many people knew about this recently it was only revealed a month before the election, which I believe is unethical; this should have been released when the information was known. Also, the press is calling Foley a pedophile, but the boys were 16-17, which is of the age of consent in DC.

Some things for all of you readers to watch are the midterm elections in November, it will be interesting to see how this affects the Republicans fighting for re-election.

As a side note, to those of you who are unfamiliar with how House elections work, districts have been gerrymandered to the point where just about all seats are practically uncontested since each party has a clear majority in each district.

More Congressional Medling In Our Lives

Over the weekend, Congress did their best to ban online gambling, making it illegal for banks to process money used for such a purpose.  This new bill (which should become law soon), cost the industry billions of dollars and will make it very hard for casual sports bettors like myself (I play a few $5 bets a month) to have fun betting on the football games. 

 

The way this law was passed is also very odious.  Most of The Senate did not want to pass this legislation, but a few Senators like Bill Frist added it to a bill to enhance port security, so the only way to vote against the ban on gaming would be to vote against port security.  Congress uses large bills like these to do everything from banning gaming to giving some hick a million dollars to study the feces production of catfish. 

 

888.com has already suspended betting operations in the US and most others are probably going to follow soon.  So now living in America means that you are in one of the only countries that will not allow you to place a bet online!!!

 

Of course Congress is just as corrupt as any other organization, so they are allowing gambling online for state lotteries and horse racing, since those industries have already filled the Congressmen's pockets with money.

Don't Cook That...It's the Law

From the city that brought you gun bans, smoking bans, and bad drivers comes a proposed ban on trans fats, the kind of fats that make french fries crispy and donuts good-tasting. Most doctors agree that these fats are not good for you, but in moderation they are unlikely to do you in on their own.

The NYC ban would not apply to grocery stores (yet), but this is one locale that is already very far down the slippery slope of limiting personal choice and personal responsibility in the name of public health.

With the quality of the air in the big apple I'm surprised they aren't requiring children to wear face masks like the Chinese do.

You want to know something that's much more dangerous than trans fats? Driving. Car accidents kill more than 45,000 people in the United States each year, and more people in New York state than died on 9/11.

New York was once a great, tough city but it is on its way to becoming a laughingstock.

I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!

To go along with my previous post, here is a lovely satire from The Onion, that describes just how stupid the intelligent design/evolution debate is. 

 

These are the same type of people who imprisoned Galileo for saying the Earth revolved around the sun and who make a mockery of human intelligence.

Crazy California

The state of CA is suing several auto companies, asserting that they are responsible for billions of dollars in damages caused by global warming. While many environmental kooks will applaud this lawsuit, I hope it fails.

First of all, while global temperatures may be up a degree worldwide, the part of it that was caused by humans is up for significant debate. Some claim it is possibly .01 degrees, some say most of the whole degree. At any rate, tens of thousands of years ago we were in an ice age, this is simply the other end of that curve. When dinosaurs ruled the earth and our ancestors were some type of rodent, temperatures were probably different from what they are today.

Secondly, if this lawsuit succeeds it could open the door to suing just about every manufacturing company, sending even more companies out of the US to build products and do their work in more business friendly countries.

Thirdly, CA is naming Toyota and Honda on the lawsuit. No other manufacturers make and sell as many low polluting hybrid vehicles as these guys. Taking away their profits just gives them less incentive to spend money researching cleaner and greener technologies.

Shame on you California.

Idiots

On one side, there are idiot gubernatorial candidates stressing that Intelligent Design (which should be known as backward, religious idiots) should be taught alongside evolution. Remember that intelligent design has absolutely no backing among scientific academics and the only people who support it are those who are too dumb to see the facts. They routinely say that there is no concrete fossil evidence of evolution.

Which brings me to my other point.

On the other side, every day there is more proof that yes, we humans have evolved from something else.