Tag: the Tea Party

Destroying the United States

Don't Tread on Me Flag

The Tea Party wing of the GOP is at it again.  Their primary mission is lower taxes at any cost.  They have no regard for the consequences of their desire to reduce the taxation.

Tea Party Patriots are now promoting the Repeal 16 Coalition.  It is a proposal to repeal the 16th amendment to the Constitution.  That amendment came into effect in 1913.  The amendment gave Congress the power to impose income taxes.

The amendment states:

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Cornell University explanation:

Congress has power under Article I, Section 8 to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare. Under the 16th Amendment, Congress can collect taxes on incomes that are derived from any source. As long as Congress has the power to regulate a particular activity that it wishes to tax, it can use the tax as a regulating device rather than in order to raise revenue. Even if Congress lacks the power to regulate a particular activity, the tax will be upheld if it has the “dominant intent” of raising revenue. In other words, even if a tax might have a substantial regulatory effect, if it raises revenue, it will be considered valid.

The requirements to amend the Constitution (as defined in Article V):

two-thirds of both houses or two-thirds of the several states and ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states.

This is a tough barrier to amendments and is obviously the reason there have been only 27 amendments and ten were immediately passed as the “Bill of Rights.”

This proposed repeal has little chance of passage.  That there is a group of people who would propose this amendment sends a message of the length the Tea Party will go to reach their objective.

Is their real objective to destroy the United States?

America’s Standing is at Stake

I wrote I would not spend time listening to all the talk about government shut down and debt ceiling but the talk and news reports are everywhere.

I am really becoming frightened by the threatened default of the U.S. government.  You see reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago.

Germany unilaterally ceased payments on long-term borrowings on May 6, 1933, three months after Adolf Hitler was installed as Chancellor. The default helped cement Hitler’s power base following years of political instability as the WeimarRepublic struggled with its crushing debts.  We all know where that led.

Today we are faced with have similar situation.  A small group of congressmen (the Tea Party) have taken control of the Republican Party and consequently are holding the government hostage.  They want to stop government borrowing and paying out only from the revenue received.  The Tea Party members do not believe that there will be any consequences to a default.  If only I could get away without not paying back my loans and meeting my commitments.

Will we see chaos in America that leads to a dictator in the name of stability?  Dictators frequently need a scapegoat.  Will it be the Jews?  Perhaps they will blame Hispanics and specifically Mexicans as the result of the influx of illegal aliens.

I predict that a default on America’s commitments will reduce this country’s credibility.  The world is on a de facto dollar standard, similar in some respects to the British pound sterling standard of the 19th and early 20th century.  The U.S. dollar will not be the world’s reserve currency if there is a default.